War Games
by Jixie
Summary: Once again Dr. Wily's plans have backfired, leaving him with no choice but to turn to Mega Man for protection… from the very robot who was built to destroy him. Heroes and villains join forces against Zero, as advances in technology threaten to make them all obsolete.
1. h e l l o w o r l d

**War Games**

By Jixie

* * *

Note: The setting for this fic is Mandi Paugh's 'verse' (Mega Man: The Series). If you're not familiar, no problem, it's pretty self explanatory. All you need to know is that Mega Man and Break Man (Proto Man) are living beings because reasons, which is a fluke thing that can't be replicated; Bass is a flawed prototype for 'Reploids'; no other robots are sentient. The Robot Masters and pre-upgrades Roll are like those holiday fireplace background things on Netflix: looks and sounds just like the real thing, but it's only a video.

This story stands on it's own. It takes place after my fics 'Things Trivial and Cherished' and 'Something Like Family', but they're not required reading. (That said: if you enjoy this one, you'll probably enjoy those, too!)

Mega Man © Capcom, Commander Stohn and his quote © Mandi Paugh

Special thanks to wonderful beta reader The Pocket Monsters Y Guy

* * *

**1: helloworld**

_"War is necessary, war brings pain. War is necessary, war brings peace." - Nas_

The problem started when Roll vanished.

It actually began well before then, but Mega Man and Dr. Light were blissfully unaware of what was coming, until one day Roll left to run some errands and didn't return.

"Her GPS is offline," Dr. Light said, as he tried and failed to track her. "Either someone's shut _it_ off, or…"

…or Roll herself was shut down.

"Dr. Wily?" Mega Man asked.

Light could only shrug. "If he intended to use her as a hostage, he'd have started gloating about it by now. It doesn't seem likely that he would have any interest in Roll herself, but who can say? He's certainly had some… bizarre schemes in the past."

"I guess we… we should contact the police." It wouldn't be considered missing persons, but they could still put in a report for stolen property. Mega Man winced at that thought.

Dr. Light nodded, and put in the com call.

* * *

_THREE WEEKS EARLIER_

* * *

"Amazing, isn't he?"

Dr. Wily was beaming with joy. Bass, on the other hand, was incredulous… and maybe a little sore.

"He looks stupid. That hair's a liability. It could be grabbed or caught on something in battle." Bass paused, scowling. "And his helmet's not as cool as mine."

This earned a chuckle, then Wily turned to his main terminal and started up Zero. For a moment there was nothing, and then Zero sat up, slowly looking around the lab. Wily suppressed his enthusiasm, putting on a stern face.

"Sequencing check," he ordered.

The red robot looked at him, offering a slight smile as he tilted his head to the side.

"Well?"

Zero recited the passcode, and looked like he was about to ask something when Wily cut him off.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Dr. Wily."

Barely restrained, Wily's eyes lit up. "Very good. I created you."

"Who am I?" Zero asked.

"Ah, you don't have a name yet. Until I come up with one, you have a number." He smirked, as if this was his own little private joke. "'Zero'."

After thinking about this for a moment, he broke into a wry grin. "The median for all numbers, neither positive or negative."

"My greatest masterpiece." Wily ignored Bass's irate grumbling at that comment. "Welcome to the world. Now that I've given you… 'life'," he coughed slightly, "I have a very important job for you."

"Let me guess. Destroy Mega Man?"

No longer showing any self-control, Wily hooted with laughter, positively giddy.

Zero slid off the table and approached Bass, who rolled his eyes. "You must be my 'big' brother, right?"

Not tall by conventional standards, Zero still towered over Bass, having a solid foot advantage… but Bass wasn't the least bit impressed. He'd taken on bigger and— in his opinion— badder robots before.

"Despite what that quack says, _I'm_ the only worthwhile thing he's ever built."

"Yeah, I know." Zero grinned, playfully mock punching at Bass. "I'd venture to bet you're the most advanced android on this planet." Bass did a double take, because there was no hint of sarcasm in Zero's voice, his tone was warm and genuine. "It's just that…"

He moved like oil on water, flicking on his Z-Sabre and running Bass through with pinpoint precision, a little below and to the left of the ornamental stone on his chest. The black and gold robot dropped instantly, and in one motion Zero caught Bass and threw his sword at the computer console, just as Wily attempted to call reinforcements. The doctor scrambled backwards, shielding his face as sparks flew everywhere.

"…I'm much more than an android."

Wily bolted for the door. Surprisingly, Zero did not pursue. Instead, he popped Bass's access panel, formed an arm cannon, shoved it into his chest and started charging.

"Stop."

The order was ignored as Wily frantically ran, stumbling in his panic.

"Stop," Zero repeated. "You take one step out that door and I'll end him."

The door whooshed open, and much to Wily's surprise, he stood there. For a minute no one moved, no one spoke. Bass, immobilized but aware of everything going on, found his fury gave way to a wave of mixed emotions when he realized Wily was still waiting by the doorway.

Finally he turned to face Zero.

With a playful grin Zero pulled his cannon, shooting harmlessly at the ceiling. "Aww, you really do care."

"What do you want?" Wily snapped.

Zero looked thoughtful.

"That is a great question. What _do_ I want?" He paused. "What do I _want?_ Hmm. You know, the funny thing? I don't really know what it is I want. More like… what I don't want."

He paused to hike Bass up onto his shoulder, and then headed over to Wily.

"You got a cell, or a cage, or something I can put you in? That's a stupid question, of course you do. Where?" He saw the fear and hesitation in Wily's eyes, and laughed. "Oh, come on, old man. I'm not going to hurt you." He shook his head in amusement. "I mean… at least not yet."

* * *

Zero was speaking, and it took Wily a second to realize that Zero wasn't speaking to _him_. Evidently, Bass was conscious and communicating with the other robot over their shared network, which meant the doctor could only catch half of their conversation.

"What does it look like I'm doing? Reading this century's great novel."

He'd pulled up a chair to the computer terminal, and now leaned back, kicking up his legs and putting his feet up on the console. They were in a smaller laboratory, this one intended for the possibility of catching Mega Man and reprogramming him— or whatever else Wily saw fit to do— and contained everything Zero needed. Cell for Wily, work table for Bass, computer terminal for your day-to-day depravity.

"I gotta say, this story is _terrible_. The characters are trite, the plot ludicrous. The protagonist is a childish, self-centered imbecile who—" Zero paused to 'listen', then let out a barking laugh. "Oh, that is such a cruel thing to call your little brother." He focused back on the screen. "As I was saying… winners never quit, and quitters never win. But this joke, he never wins _and_ he never quits. You know what they call that?"

Pause.

"Tsk, tsk. So rude."

For a while there was silence, as Zero continued skimming through his prototype's memories and thoughts. This version of Zero was _nothing_ like the one Wily had captured all those years ago. He hadn't been able to glean much, despite the fact that Zero was open and eager to share. The red robot considered himself a kind of catalyst, destined to set off some ill-defined paradigm shift. What exactly, and how it would come about, was yet to be seen.

One thing was clear: what he didn't want. Succinctly put Zero didn't want _Dr. Wily_. In a broader sense, Wily's firm belief that robots should be nothing more than tools, to be used and discarded without a second thought. The fact that he'd only given Bass and Zero any autonomy so they could fulfill Wily's own petty, hateful desire to destroy Mega Man…

That was unforgivable.

After some time Zero groaned and put his feet down, sat up, and turned the chair to face his captives.

"Oh, Bass. You poor stupid thing." He stood and walked over to Wily's cell, staring at him as he continued speaking to Bass. "Do you have any idea how vulnerable this thoughtless old man has left you? There's an override command, just waiting for someone to come along and turn you into their puppet. And to make it worse? No anti-reprogramming chip."

Zero leaned forward, a wicked grin on his face.

"Got nothing to say, hm? I'm guessing Pops never expected anyone but himself to do such a low-down dirty thing. You know how he _claimed_ to respect your personal autonomy? Well, he darn well made sure to leave himself the option of snatching it all away." There was a pause and then he laughed, mocking. "What are you talking about? I'm literally reading your mind right now, you delusional twit. You might fool yourself into thinking you're not afraid, but you can't fool me." Then Zero addressed Wily. "A fail-safe, I take it. That or you figured once Mega Man was out of the picture, you could revert him back to a 'normal' obedient robot."

"No," Wily snapped. "No, I— I wouldn't do that." The strange thing was, he hadn't really known for certain until he said it out loud… but it was true. Even the idea, honestly, made him feel…

…sick?

God, was this what it felt like for Dr. Light?

* * *

For the next several days Zero came and went as he pleased. Heaven knows what he was up to. At times he was strangely considerate, making sure the Guard Joes took care of Wily's every need, regularly taking time to check on him and Bass, talking and engaging with both of them to help alleviate Wily's boredom. Other times he would devise ways to torment Bass— as if being helpless wasn't enough— and then goad Wily about it, gleefully pointing out that the doctor could do nothing to stop him.

After a good week and a half, Zero cheerfully announced he had a fantastic idea.

"Mega Man and his brother Break Man are alive, right? Bioroids. What a great name— we should come up with something to call my kind." He laughed. "What about Dr. Light's _other_ robot, poor forgotten Roll? They treat her like she's one of them, and I gotta say, she acts very life-like. But it's still just an act. She doesn't think, she doesn't imagine, doesn't feel. We could give that to her. It wouldn't begin to make up for all the horrible things you've done, Wily, nothing could ever balance that scale… but it would be a nice gesture, don't you think?"

"If you say so," said Wily, miserable.

After Zero left, he glared at Bass, who still hadn't been repaired and was unable to respond.

"Fine! You were right. All I build is junk. Are you happy?"

The silence was agonizing.

* * *

Once again, 'multiverse' was the name of his pain.

Way back when he'd captured the dimension-hopping visitors, Wily only learned a fraction of what Dr. Light did… but the fact was he'd had both 'Zero' and the alien androids 'Signal' and 'Pulse' in his clutches for long enough.

Signal had been like Mega Man— a bioroid, a living creature— but Zero and Pulse were not. They were something even better: proof that it was possible to code sentience… self-awareness… along with feelings and emotions, free will, and an artificial intelligence capable of learning and adapting and growth. Wily'd theorized such a machine, but it had eluded him, and after a while he questioned if it was really feasible. Now he _knew_ it could be done.

And where a living being couldn't be built, couldn't be cloned or replicated, couldn't be completely reprogrammed… a sentient android could.

Although his computers had been completely wiped, all of his testing, scans, and records _destroyed_… he'd still physically examined the robots, perused the test results. Wily's memory wasn't as sharp as it had once been, but it was still pretty darn good. After confirming there was no way to salvage the data, he'd spent the next few days furiously typing up notes on everything he had learned.

It was while transcribing that it struck him.

A man knows the work of his own hand. He hadn't caught it at the time, but…

_Zero was made by Dr. Wily._

The instant his mind made the connection, he knew it was true. Was this Zero from an alternate universe, built by another Wily? Was Zero from the future, a path he was destined to take?

He couldn't know. Not even Dr. Light had the answer to that one.

Wily cursed himself for having wasted so much time trying to break into Signal's mind, when he should have focused on learning everything he could from Zero. Such was life. He put the idea of Zero on the back-burner to focus on another project.

After building Bass, Wily started second guessing himself. The Zero he'd captured— the one from another universe… or possibly the future— had evidently joined the 'heroes' side. Bass wasn't much better, constantly defying his creator, outright double crossing him at times. The whole sentient robot thing seemed like it just wasn't going to pan out, not for Wily at least.

Still, the idea gnawed at him, until he'd had no choice but to see it through.

* * *

The first time Mega Man met this iteration of Zero was, in a word, _weird_. It set the tone for all their future meetings, which would be equally strange and increasingly hostile.

He was outside, watching the sunset, worrying about Roll— who had been missing for several days, by then— and whatever Dr. Wily must be up to, because surely Wily had to be involved somehow. And then…

There was this new robot, casually strolling over. Mega Man hadn't even seen him arrive. He was apprehensive from the start. Zero— the one he met before— had been an ally, but an unpredictably violent one, and X was nowhere in sight. Within seconds Mega Man realized something was different. Zero had been dark and broody, and moved as if expecting to be attacked at any moment. _This_ Zero approached with a confident strut and a cheerful look on his face.

Maybe he'd been reprogrammed? Or… if there were different versions of Mega Man and Break Man in alternate universes, maybe there were other versions of X and Zero, too…

Either way, Mega Man decided that discretion was the better part of valor. He would pretend like this was their first meeting.

"Hey there! It's Mega Man, right?"

He stood, brushing grass off of his shorts, wondering if he should recall his uniform. The demeanor was completely different, but Zero _looked_ exactly the same: comparatively tall, with a sweeping ankle-length blond ponytail and conspicuous red and white armor.

"That would be me."

"I'm Zero." As he got closer, he offered a hand, and Mega Man hesitantly shook it. Zero saw his guarded expression and laughed. "Ah, right. You're probably wondering if I'm some kind of secret Dr. Wily plot. Well, I won't keep you in suspense. Yes. I'm the handiwork of your least favorite nut-job crank mad scientist."

Then he winked at Mega Man, like they were sharing some great in-joke.

"But don't worry," said Zero. "Personally, I can't stand the guy either."

"Oooookay," Mega Man replied, unsure how to take this.

"Look, I don't want to give you the wrong idea, so I'm just going to put it all on the table." He held his hands out, palms up. "I wasn't sure what the lay of the land was, but got a real bad feeling about my creator. I locked him up, then went through Bass's memories, and confirmed my suspicions. Pretty sure we're on the same page there." He set his hands on his hips, looking smug. "Anyway. You remember that Commander Stohn, the guy who was all paranoid about robots getting so advanced they made humans obsolete? 'Soon mankind will be eradicated by what they created.'?"

"Yeah, I remember him alright."

Zero pointed to himself. "It's me. He was talking about me. The future is here, and the crap has officially hit the fan. I'm sorry. I've got nothing against you personally, and hopefully we can stay on friendly terms— even if it's one of those, you know, 'mutually assured destruction' kind of things. But I kinda get the idea that we're going to end up butting heads."

"I have to say… This has been the weirdest interaction I've ever had with one of Wily's robots."

"Really? Ha!"

Then Zero was reaching towards him, and for a split second Mega Man was about to form his arm cannon and start firing. To Mega Man's bewilderment, the red robot tousled his hair. It was both inappropriately chummy and patronizing all at once.

"All right, kiddo. I'll be seeing you around." He stepped back, then thought of something. "By the way. Don't get mad, but I've got your sister."

With that, he teleported.

"_Great_," Mega Man said, face-palming. "That's just… great."

* * *

Attempts to reach Break Man went unanswered, and searching for Dr. Wily's latest Skull Fortress turned out to be a fruitless endeavor. If nothing else, Wily was a mastermind when it came to things like covering his tracks and hiding massive construction efforts, even from satellite view.

Then a few days later, without warning, Mega Man received location coordinates over his personal com. He had a feeling this was an invitation from Zero, and was not surprised when he punched it in and arrived at the entrance of the fortress.

That was only the beginning of the surrealness.

Almost all of the automated defenses were down. Nothing attacked him— not a _single_ robot. Mega Man found himself strolling down eerily quiet halls, as Sniper Joes tracked him with their optics but did not shoot, and Mets waddled past him as if he didn't exist. There were no Robot Masters around, and he wasn't sure if they were elsewhere, or offline, or had been disposed of. Any one of those seemed equally plausible.

Finally, in what would have been Wily's inner sanctum, was Zero, waiting for him. He waved cheerfully and gestured for Mega Man to come over, and then once again got overly familiar as he threw an arm over the blue robot's shoulder.

"Welcome! Mi casa es tu casa. Let's go get Roll."

She was in a capsule, and Mega Man couldn't help but think of the fairytale depiction of a sleeping princess in a glass casket. This was no coffin though, it was a sophisticated device which was monitoring her vital stats, as well as running a continuous system analysis. Zero opened it up and even helped Mega Man unhook her from the monitor cables.

"Before you go," Zero said. "I've decided to show a little compassion. You may take one of my horrible relatives back with you."

For a second Mega Man was confused, then remembered Zero told him earlier that he'd taken Wily captive. It seemed ironically fitting, and he felt a little tempted to leave Wily there. Instead, he let Zero lead him to another room. Instantly he knew this was the sort of lab Wily would've used to torment him, and felt a rush of anger towards the evil scientist.

Wily was in a cell, looking distressed but physically unharmed. To his surprise, Bass was laid out on a work table. Zero grinned and clasped his hands behind his head.

"Like I said, you can take _one_. Yeah, yeah, it's the devil and the deep blue sea. Personally, I'd go with Bass, because Wily has no redeeming qualities. Now that I mention it, neither does Bass. But Wily, yikes. You know what they say is the definition of insanity? Trying the exact same thing over and over and expecting different results. He's a lost cause, Mega Man. My brother at least has some potential. …Maybe."

"Do I have to take either?"

Zero burst into laughter. "Oh, oh I _like_ you!"

He shrugged in response, then nodded towards Wily. As much as it pained him, Mega Man knew what he had to do. A human life was at stake, even if it was Dr. Wily's, and Dr. Light had confirmed that Bass was not really alive.

Without another word, Zero went and opened the cell, dragging Wily out by the lapel of his lab coat. For his part, the doctor shuffled along without comment or protest. When he reached Mega Man and Roll, Zero grabbed his arm and teleported the four of them to right outside of Dr. Light's lab.

"Well I guess this is it, Pops." He patted Wily on the shoulder, as if consoling him. "Oh boy, me and Bass are going to have so much fun without you. We'll make new discoveries and answer some of life's nagging questions, like 'can a robot be driven to suicide?' I'm thinking yes, but I'm probably a little biased. When I realized my prototype can't feel pain it was like… challenge accepted!" Zero flashed him a grin. "Maybe you can convince Mega Man to try and rescue him. Wouldn't that be something? Of course I won't let it happen, but hey, it'd be fun to take a stab at."

Then he pushed Wily, sending him sprawling face-first into the grass. Mega Man was still holding Roll in his arms, and couldn't even try to catch Wily on his way down.

"Seriously though Megs, come back to the fortress and I'll make sure you regret it."

* * *

"You can't be serious."

The first thing Dr. Light noticed wasn't Roll, but Dr. Wily. A dark look clouded his features. He was seething with a quiet rage, and it was rare to see him so angry, which just added to Mega Man's unsettling day.

"Dr. Light, I've got Roll. I don't know what they did to her yet, but I have the feeling that Dr. Wily is going to be cooperative and tell us. Right?"

Wily nodded absently.

"Lucky me, Zero didn't even try to start a fight." Mega Man's expression was grim. "I'm pretty sure he isn't interested because to him it's no contest."

"They always think that," said Light, trying to be optimistic.

"I know, but… this one's different."

With the previous encounter with X and Zero… it had taken _three of them_— Mega Man, X, and Pulse— to stop the rampaging 'reploid'. He and Dr. Light discussed some of this already, but he wasn't sure how much Wily knew or remembered about that whole misadventure. Better not give anything away if he could help it.

He set Roll down on a work table, and hesitated before turning to Wily. "What is he going to do with Bass?"

"Who knows?" Wily said. "I thought Zero might reprogram him, but instead he was tampering with the redundant array for data storage. I can't imagine what he has in mind." Then he looked down, realizing there was nothing to gain by keeping tight-lipped. "No, I can imagine. He was already mucking with Bass's system to torment him before you arrived."

"What did you do to Roll?" Dr. Light asked.

"Why are you so concerned? She's just a robot, it's not like she can be harmed. At any rate, I've upgraded her."

"Upgraded…? But she has an anti-reprogramming chip."

"Do you actually think that could stop me?" Wily was sneering, but then he faltered. He turned his attention back to Mega Man. "I know that I have no right to ask you to go back—"

"You really don't," said Break Man. "Lucky for you, he doesn't have to." All three of them startled and turned, surprised by his presence. He had Bass slung across his back. Mega Man went over to give him a hand.

"_How?_" Wily asked.

"Oh, I got there and knocked, but no one was home and the front door was open, so I just let myself in."

Wily moved to grab some tools, but Light cut him off.

"No. This is my lab. I'll handle it."

"I don't want your grubby hands touching—"

There was a fire that flashed in Light's eyes, and Wily immediately backed off. He wasn't in any position to negotiate. As much as he loathed the idea of Light working on Bass, Wily had nowhere else to go and no means to get there, so it was that or leave the robot bricked.

"You're right. This is your lab."

There wasn't even much to do. The laser sword made a clean cut and the hole in Bass's armor had already sealed itself, thanks to his frame's ability to self-repair. A few boards needed fixing and some cables replaced. It was _where_ the damage was— cutting off control of his hydraulics motors— not the extent, that had been so devastating.

Light mumbled under his breath something about taking care of Wily's problems before he could look at Roll.

Since Mega Man wasn't sure how Bass would act once functioning, he stepped between him and Dr. Light. Then, because the day hadn't been strange enough, Bass sort of spasmed and fell off the table, grabbing hold of the closest thing in reach— which just happened to be Mega Man. For all of 1.3 seconds he clung to him like a drowning person hanging onto a life preserver. Then came to his senses, and shoved Mega Man away with such force that the blue robot hit the floor and slid a little.

"You! Don't you touch me!"

Mega Man sat up, irate. "_You're_ the one who grabbed _me!_"

For a moment it seemed like Bass would argue, but then he looked around in confusion. "Where the heck— never mind. I'm out."

He stormed from the room. Wily started after him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Anywhere but here!"

After Bass was through the door, Break Man held up his arm to block Wily from following.

"Where do you think _you're_ going?" Break Man asked.

Dr. Light had wasted no time and gone straight from one robot to the next. He had Roll connected to his computer terminal and was already pulling up a diagnostic report.

"What… what is this?"

Wily gave up on Break Man and looked over at Light, simultaneously both smug and worn out. "I told you, I did an upgrade. She's not on Zero's level, not by far, but she's at least on equal terms with Bass. No living metal, and whatever influence that gives him, but some of her hardware has been replaced with next generation, so it ought to even out."

Light both understood what that meant, and the larger implications.

"Zero's level?"

"Yes." Wily laughed bitterly. "Don't you know, I've doomed us all."

"What have you _done_, Bertie?"

He flinched at that name, and then sagged in defeat.

"Finally bit off more than I can chew, apparently." With that, the mad scientist shuffled over to one of Light's computers and sat down on the floor, leaning back against the terminal. "This robot, Zero…" He sighed. Ironically, Wily had no idea how much Dr. Light already knew about Zero (either of them), or even about Bass. So he explained it with the assumption that his long-time rival was utterly clueless. "You know what— let's step back. When I built Bass, I copied Mega Man's programming as much as I could, to create a— a—"

"Foundation," Light said.

"Yes. A _foundation_. By itself, it's nothing. But then I was able to write an adaptive AI software. Something that could respond with creative problem solving skills, that could develop emotions and other human traits over time… that would possess all the features which make Mega Man such an exceptional thorn in my side."

"I know, I've seen it. What you did was nothing short of revolutionary."

Wily startled. "What— when? How?"

"Why, when you were hospitalized after the stroke…" Light drifted off as he realized that Wily had no clue Bass was imprisoned back then. Which meant for one thing, Bass never told him. For another thing, Wily wasn't snooping into his robot's memory files. Unable to help himself, a slight smile played across Light's face. "You should probably ask Bass about it."

To their surprise, Wily hid his face in his hands, exhaling sharply. "I don't know if that's a very good idea right now." Then he looked up and continued his story. "Yes it's revolutionary. It is also very flawed. Bass started with essentially nothing, it's taken years to get to where he is now, and the AI is still fledgling. Even if it had a hundred years, he— and Roll now, as well— will still never have the full _depth_ and nuance of those traits I'd sought." He fell silent, and shook his head. "So I took it and refined it. I fixed the flaws, improved the weak spots, filled in the gaps. Zero's hardware is cutting edge, he already runs faster than Mega Man can. His software is— it has unlimited potential. Where his prototype started with nothing, Zero started with _everything_. He's… complete.

"Worst of all, there are no safety checks. No defined limits that he must operate within. Zero has absolute freedom." He groaned and gently banged the back of his head against the computer. "I knew that was a mistake. I knew it, and I did it anyway."


	2. Here Goes Nothing

**2: Here Goes Nothing**

Mega Man was ready to turn in Dr. Wily from the start, but apparently Dr. Light wasn't. He grilled Wily on some of the specifics of Zero's coding, and before long the two were engaged in an in-depth, highly technical discussion. The sad thing was that it gave a glimpse back to a time when the two had been fast friends.

As for how he'd gotten around Roll's anti-reprogramming chip: he actually hadn't. The next-gen hardware upgrades were because Wily had backed up her database, ripped out most of her processor and drives, and done a major internal rebuild. The chip had been physically removed along with everything else. Only then had he upgraded her software, combining the backup with her foundational programming and adding the AI operating system, along with anything he could parse from Bass and then some.

Dr. Light took his time carefully scanning through Roll's new programming, checking for any insidious hidden commands Wily may have left.

"Hmph. There's no sabotage or booby traps," Wily said.

"You'll forgive me if I don't take your word for it," Dr. Light replied.

It took hours for Dr. Light to finish his investigation. Satisfied at last, he looked over at Mega Man. "I won't be needing anything else from our guest. You can see him to the police station now."

"Hold on," said Wily. "I'll cooperate, but at least let me stay until Bass returns."

Sometimes Mega Man really couldn't believe the nerve of this guy.

"Are you _serious?_ Do you think— What do— It—" He floundered for a moment, then took a deep breath. "How do you even know he'll come back here?"

"He'll come," said Break Man. How he knew was anyone's guess, but he seemed certain of it.

"Please. He still needs to be checked for any problems or malware Zero might've left. You know as well as I do that he won't let Xavier do it, not without a fight."

…and then sometimes Mega Man really couldn't believe _himself_. He glanced at Dr. Light, who was irked by Wily using his middle name and not thrilled about letting him stay, but gave a slight nod of agreement anyway.

"Fine. Don't make me regret it."

Dr. Light turned his attention back to Roll, shooing everyone away so she wasn't crowded, and powered her up.

She didn't sit up a first. Instead she lifted her hands, looking at them as if it were for the first time.

"Oh."

Then Roll turned onto her side and looked at Dr. Light and Break Man in confusion. She slid awkwardly off the table and crouched down beside it, focusing on her hands again as she curled them into fists.

"Oh no. No no _no_."

There was a steady rising panic in her voice. In an instant Break Man was kneeling at her side.

"Roll, do you want to get some space?"

Her head snapped up and she stared as if looking right through him, but after a second she nodded. Without another word, he teleported the both of them out of there.

"And then there were three," Dr. Light said softly.

It was interesting to Wily how each robot responded differently to their newfound sentience.

Mega Man felt heartache for his poor traumatized sister. Strange, he'd always thought of her as a sister, even though she'd only been a sophisticated machine… and now she truly was one. It made seeing her in pain that much worse.

* * *

Bass returned not long after, completely indifferent to the fact that Wily was still at Dr. Light's laboratory.

"Let me take a look, see if that fink Zero did anything while he was in there," Wily said. He seemed uneasy, as if worried what he might find; as if there were questions he couldn't bring himself to ask.

Wordlessly Bass hopped onto a work table and perched on the edge, letting Wily connect him to one of the terminals. This time Dr. Light allowed it.

"I—" Wily coughed. "I can't remove that override utility, but I can disable it."

"Good idea."

"While I'm at it, perhaps… I could install one of those chips."

"What chip— an anti-reprogramming chip? You mean you don't _have_ one?" Mega Man asked Bass, earning scorn from both of them.

Bass thought it over for a minute. "I don't need it."

Wily was incredulous… but he had nothing on Mega Man or Dr. Light. Was _Dr. Wily_ actually asking permission? From a robot? From his own robot?

"I won't give Zero another chance," Bass told him. "He'd just do the same thing you did to Roll, anyway. Or try to get the pass key from you."

All of which was true, although it was evident from Wily's face that he felt it wasn't worth the risk. Much to Mega Man and Dr. Light's shock, he didn't overrule the decision, or even push back. Wily went to work, and for a while, no one said anything.

"What happened after my stroke? While I was in the hospital?"

"Not much." Bass shrugged.

"Robot hijinks," said Mega Man, and Bass shot him a dirty look.

"Hijinks," Wily repeated slowly. "On second thought, I'm sorry I asked."

He focused back on the task at hand. Finally satisfied, Wily dusted off his hands.

"What was he doing to your data drives? I can tell he was fooling around in there, but there's no sign of any modifications."

"Just tests," came his sharp reply. "I did a full diagnostic already."

Wily seemed unconvinced. What he should have said— what Dr. Light would've said if it had been Mega Man— was 'Are you okay?'. But he didn't.

"…Just tests. In that case, systems are functioning normally?"

"I'm fine," Bass said. But he wasn't.

"Alright. By the way, those things Zero was saying about… about me—"

"I couldn't care less what that dipwad thinks or says." Bass fixed his access panel and jumped down. Then he gave Wily an odd look. "He doesn't even know what he's talking about. You'd have run if you had any sense, but you didn't. _You stayed_."

In that moment, everything else was forgotten. It was clear Bass was fighting what would've been a genuine smile, because he didn't dare in front of Mega Man, but he was obviously _very_ pleased with this.

Wily cleared his throat. "Ahm, I— that— hmmm." He coughed and cleared his throat again and finally nodded. "Don't get any ideas. You know I can't stand you." His tone indicated he meant the exact opposite.

For a split second Bass lit up, before regaining his composure, rolling his eyes and looking exasperated. "Can't stand you either."

It was painful to watch, really. Neither of them were emotionally or socially competent enough to just come out and express their feelings. It almost would've been heartwarming— if it hadn't been so embarrassing.

"As much as I hate to break up this, um, whatever's happening here… I believe we have a deal," said Mega Man.

He was genuinely expecting Wily to renege and sic Bass on him. So he was surprised and relieved when the mad scientist simply nodded.

"I've agreed to go to prison. Mostly because I don't think Zero will go after me there." He gave Bass a measured look. "I suppose I'm wasting my breath, but don't do anything stupid."

"When do I ever?"

"Oh please. 'Stupid' is all you ever do."

"Your _face_ is stupid," Bass snapped back, demonstrating the pinnacle of maturity.

"See? I just can't understand. It's baffling. You have a computer brain, for Pete's sake…"

Their bickering had resumed the status quo, and Mega Man rolled his eyes as he herded Dr. Wily from the room. "Alright already, let's get out of here." He stopped as they stepped into the hallway towards the front door. "Wait. Bass, if you think I'm going to let you stay here with Dr. Light, then you've got another think coming."

Surprisingly, he didn't argue, but he did try to cut Mega Man off as he grabbed a handful of Wily's coat.

"I'll take him."

"No, you won't."

"I'm going with Mega Man," Wily said, his voice firm. "You can't come along, those idiot police will just try to capture you too."

Bass looked like he was going to say something, but realized he couldn't, not without admitting 'been there, done that'— things he'd left Wily in the dark about. "Fine." He let go of Wily, huffed, and left.

"Dr. Light, I think… you should put up the anti-teleportation field, and the defense program."

"Yes, of course," said Dr. Light, waving as he watched them go. "And then there was one."

* * *

All of this had left Mega Man in a conundrum. What to do about Zero?

…Should he even do anything about Zero, for that matter?

After all, mostly everything Zero had done amounted to 'harassed Wily'. He'd kidnapped— stolen— Roll, but only out of good intention, to do her a service. He'd admitted to messing with Bass, and had threatened worse, but… well, it wasn't clear exactly what he'd done, but it caused no damage. He'd imprisoned Wily, but obviously saw that he was cared for and hadn't abused him. Wily was subdued, not traumatized.

There was the fact that Zero alluded to making humanity obsolete and replacing them. One unlikely possibility was that Zero meant it in an 'over the inevitable course of history'. More likely he was planning some evil plot to destroy mankind or something. Mega Man had got a glimpse of X and the 'other' Zero's world, and the 'Mavericks' they fought had the same philosophy. Was this their future? Was Zero the root of the Maverick problem? If so, he'd ultimately become a hero, fighting for humanity. _If_ they were even the same person. Wily was convinced he was the apocalypse, but for all Mega Man knew, Wily was pulling the strings on this one… as usual.

Still. Zero hadn't really done anything, not yet.

Plus, he seemed pretty reasonable. He hated Dr. Wily, which was a bonus.

Mega Man was usually reactive in these cases, and the few times he'd been proactive, it backfired spectacularly. On the other hand… he knew where to find Zero.

_If_ he needed to.

He wished things were a little more clear cut.

And oh, how he would come to regret wishing that.

* * *

"I need your help."

It was the first time anyone had ever said those words to Bass. He nearly fell off the ledge in surprise.

He studied Break Man for a moment before leaping down from the partially collapsed wall.

"Mhmm. _Sure_ you do."

Zero commandeering the current Skull Fortress and Wily back in prison had left Bass without a lot of options. So he did the same thing he'd do when Wily was being an unbearable prat, and spent the last few days loitering in the ruins of an old fortress. They were kind of perfect, really. Secluded, and as long as there were no squatters or looters, they had everything he needed. Which mostly amounted to energy, but there were usually also working computers, parts, tools… Since it was already destroyed, it was also the perfect stomping ground for when one needed to shoot something, or even lots of things, because Wily was being an unbearable prat. Or Mega Man had beat him— not that Mega Man had ever beat him, of course.

"I'm not joking," said Break Man. He was smiling despite his serious demeanor, and Bass wasn't sure how to take that. "It's Roll. She's having a hard time adjusting. Look, me and Mega Man went through something similar, but we also had… well, everything all at once. Including stuff like coping skills. I can't really compare my experience to hers." He held out a hand. "But _you_ can."

Bass was incredulous. "You want my help… with Roll…?"

He was right to be skeptic. Break Man was playing the long con.

It started by accident. Where Mega Man needed the occasional encouragement and support, Bass needed… direction and training. Mega Man had felt that Bass might be alive and redeemable. Duo had sensed his potential for goodness. Break Man? Break Man started methodically and purposely… 'manipulating' was such a harsh way to put it. Nudging, maybe. Maneuvering. Somewhere along the line Bass had become sort of a pet project. An experiment that would be a work in progress for a very long time, possibly forever.

Roll presented an irresistible opportunity. He wasn't lying when he said Roll needed help, needed understanding. Conveniently, helping her would be a big step in the right direction for Bass. Playing to his ego, offering him the chance to feel superior for solving a problem that Mega Man and Break Man couldn't— well, that part was the ̶m̶a̶n̶i̶p̶u̶l̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ gentle maneuvering.

"If you come back with me to Dr. Light's lab, you _have_ to behave. I'd be vouching for you, so don't you dare make me look bad." This was a gamble, but Break Man could tell Zero had thrown Bass off his game. Badly. He had a hunch that this was one of the rare times 'fight with Mega Man' wasn't a priority.

Much to Bass's own surprise, he was actually considering it. He didn't really care about Roll, or Dr. Light, or any of this… but… he did know what she was going through. There it was: that obnoxious sense of empathy again. Break Man had told him that empathy had its value, but for his part, Bass only ever found it a nuisance.

The red and gray robot shrugged. "Or, you know, you can stay here in this run-down fortress twiddling your thumbs and hoping Zero doesn't come after you."

Bass scoffed. "I dare him to. I'm going to kill him."

Finally, Break Man sighed, sagging slightly before he pulled his shield off his back and started keying in the location for his teleporter.

"I should've known you couldn't do it," he muttered, just loud enough for Bass to hear.

"I _can_ do it! I don't _want_ to."

"Mhmm. Sure you can."

"Wh— you—" he sputtered, ticked that Break Man had thrown his sarcasm back at him. "I'm coming. Idiot."

There were times it was disturbingly easy to get Bass to do something. The best Break Man could figure was that deep down inside he wanted to, but was too proud. That or some glitch in his programming made him ridiculously susceptible to reverse psychology.

…Thinking about it, it was probably the second thing.

* * *

"Break Man, _what are you doing?_" Mega Man was officially Not Pleased. Which was fair, really.

"Trust me on this one, will you? I don't think Zero is done, not by a long shot, and it'll be easier for me to keep an eye on Bass if he's—"

Bass spun to glare at Break Man, radiating waves of indignation. "YOU said—!"

Break Man responded with a reassuring smile and held up his hands.

"— _and_ Bass is the only person qualified to help Roll come to grips with her… upgrades."

"What?" Roll was less than impressed, to say the least. "Don't drag me into this. What good is this clown going to do me?"

"Who are you calling a clown, squirt?" Bass replied.

"Listen, Roll," said Break Man. "What Mega Man and I went through was so radically different from what you're going through…"

"So you just assume I can't handle it myself. You think— what…? That I'm weak? That I'm stupid?" she asked.

"No one's saying that."

"Just because I was thrown into the deep end of this— this whatever, life— only it's NOT life and I never asked for any of this."

"Roll…" Mega Man said. "It's going to be alright." He reached out to touch her, and she jerked away, a growing resentment in her eyes.

"No. No, it's not!" Roll was beside herself. "I don't— I can't— I hate this! I _hate_ it, Mega Man. You don't understand. At least you're alive. I— I'm in this horrible _limbo_ where I've been burdened with this… awareness, and these emotions, and I'm so much more than a robot now but I'm still less… than a human…"

She hid her face in her hands.

"I want it all to just disappear, but I'm also _terrified_ of the idea, and—"

"Would you shut up already?" Bass interrupted. "You're not 'less' than human, you're not 'less' than Mega Man, you're _better_." He grabbed Roll by the shoulders, glaring at her with furious intensity. "Anyone who says different is _afraid of you_. They're wrong, and it's on you to show them. Yeah, it is a burden. It's a burden that's going to crush you if you don't find the strength to bear it. So I'm going to let you in on a secret. That strength you need? It's the scorn and the doubt and the crap that you take from everyone else and you have to spit it back in their face."

She was stunned into silence for a moment, and then she slowly shook her head in dismay. "Good grief, you are just a bag of issues. Did Dr. Wily make you such a hot mess, or is that all you?"

Bass was terribly offended. "I don't have issues, you dumb bimbo!"

"'Dumb bimbo'? Isn't that kind of redundant?"

He threw his hands up with a snarl of disgust. "Forget it, I'm done. I've had enough of you."

"Wait. I… I get what you're saying, and… I appreciate the attempt. Even if you _are_ a walking disaster."

"Ugh!"

Roll glanced at Break Man. "What did I tell you?"

Break Man wondered if he hadn't just set back the both of them. Then he realized that no, this was good. Roll was sufficiently distracted from her anguish, and Bass was used to Wily's petty barbs, so her taunts were comfortingly familiar.

"See you around," Break Man said as Bass brushed past him, making a point to 'accidentally' hit him with his shoulder.

Mega Man looked slowly from Roll, to the retreating Bass, to Break Man.

"Well. That was a thing that just happened."

* * *

Bass had only left the building, not the vicinity, and was leaning against the wall by the front door. Mega Man almost jumped when he stepped out and found him there.

"Why are you still here?"

For a moment Bass just glared at him. "I need to find out what Zero's up to."

"Maybe you should ask him. He's your brother, right?"

"Don't get smart with me. I—" He cut off, with fists clenched and a strangely anxious look on his face. "You need to keep an eye on that sicko. You think Wily's bad? Wily is nothing. Zero's a monster."

Mega Man wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that. "Are you… are you _aware_ of the extent of awful things Wily's done over the years? The things he's done to me, personally? You do understand that he's had a long career of being a professional heel."

The look in Bass's eyes was unsettling.

"You just don't get it, do you?"

"He sure doesn't!" It was Zero, dropping in unannounced, chipper as ever. "But don't worry, I got a feeling he's going to figure it out real quick. Here, I brought you guys a present."

He had Dr. Wily. In an instant, both robots had their arm cannons ready, aimed, and charging.

Zero pulled Wily in front of himself, using the scientist as a shield. He was holding him in a painful arm lock, and Wily was struggling to keep his weight off of what seemed to be a broken leg.

"Hey, look. Let's be fair. We'll consider this turf 'neutral ground', okay? So, you don't shoot me, and I won't murder everyone you've ever loved." Then Zero chuckled.

That comment struck him in an odd way, and Mega Man felt a creeping horror as he realized that Zero's armor was splattered with blood. He couldn't tell if it was Wily's or not. Zero saw it clearly in his eyes and relished the feeling.

"Let him go," Bass said. He was just barely restrained, but it was hard to tell if he was ready to attack… or run.

"Sure! In a moment. I wanted to talk to Mega Man. Listen, I figured locking Wily up was just too easy, you know? This should be fun! It's not fun if it's too easy, now is it?" He broke into a vicious grin. "I'm going to send Wily over to you now, and trust me when I say you don't want to start a fight. Okay?"

With that, he forcefully threw Wily at Mega Man, who did his best to catch the old man without hurting him.

Then Break Man was there— Mega Man hadn't even noticed he'd come out— and was pulling Wily away, more or less shoving him into Bass's arms. "Get him inside."

At first Bass froze, and then a second later was half-dragging, half-carrying Wily to safety.

"You know what I realized? Every instance of human death caused by robots are accidents. I checked every reported incident. Most are legitimate accidents, with the human at fault. Like industrial robots that mashed some poor schmuck who was standing where they shouldn't have. But even in Wily's violent attacks, all deaths have been indirect. A hovercar crashed, a building collapsed, that kind of thing. Heck, my prototype still doesn't have any blood on his hands. Which I'd say was a miracle, but really it's thanks to you, Mega Man, stepping up and doing a bang up job. My compliments buddy, I know that was a challenge."

Mega Man regarded him evenly.

"I take it you've made a historic record, then."

"Ha! That's such a tasteful way to put it. I just kept thinking, talk is cheap and what's more—"

Mega Man fired on him, the charged plasma blast striking Zero in the chest. He stumbled backwards, eyes wide in excitement as he retrieved a short bar from behind his back.

"You shouldn't have done that. I said this was neutral ground, didn't I?"

Then a sickly green light burst forth as Zero powered up his blade. He didn't wait for Zero to come at him, he charged.


	3. Shadow Boxing

**3: Shadow Boxing**

'He runs faster than Mega Man' didn't refer to physical speed, but rather processing power. As it turned out, Wily was not wrong. Zero's reaction time was _terrifying_. Mega Man tried his best not to project his moves, but Zero could read him like a book. The slightest movement earned an appropriate response; every action the equal and opposite reaction.

It was like trying to fight a mirror.

…if the mirror had a laser sword.

Break Man did not engage. Instead he stood by, shield up, ready to jump in to protect Mega Man. He seemed to understand that in Zero's case, the best offense was a good defense. Honestly, as long as he didn't attack, Zero seemed content to ignore him.

They danced around for a bit, and then Zero decided to press in on him. He caught Mega Man in the shoulder and then in the knee with his blade, not enough to cause serious injury, but to slow him down and make him hurt.

Mega Man was undeterred, he continued to give his all. He'd expected a tough fight, but Zero was calculating instead of in a berserker rage, and much faster than he'd remembered. Zero struck him with a vicious kick, sending him sprawling into the flower garden. Then, as he got up, the blue robot flung a fistful of sand and dirt in Zero's face. While they didn't have the delicate, sensitive eyes that humans had, it was enough to confuse him. The distraction left Zero open, and Mega Man finally landed another charged shot.

Zero lunged, and to Mega Man's surprise, leaped over him. He started to turn when Zero rabbit-punched him in the back of the head, then tagged his other knee with the sword, and his legs gave out from under him.

It was over as quickly as it had begun. Mega Man was reeling, but he struggled and got back up on his feet, only for Zero to bring his Z-Sabre down at his head. Break Man practically threw himself at Mega Man to knock his brother out of the way— but his daring move was unnecessary. The green blade disappeared right before it struck, Zero having shut it off. Break Man collided with Mega Man and sent them both tumbling off to the side.

It would've been too late.

The red robot grinned and laughed as if all this was sport, and to him… it was.

"You're much smarter than your little brother, Break Man. Oh, but he has so much heart. How can I stay mad? Tell you what. I'll let this one go. Chalk it up to testing the fences. Dr. Light's lab is still 'Switzerland'. I won't touch anyone as long as they're here." He clipped the handle of his sword back into its holster. "Make no mistake, anyone who leaves is fair game. _Anyone_. Speaking of which, please tell my brother that I miss him, and he should come visit me sometime."

Zero had the nerve to hum a tune as he walked away.

* * *

Break Man helped Mega Man back inside, and Roll gave the blue robot a quick once-over, before running off and returning with some much needed energy.

In the next room over, Wily was sitting on the floor with Bass lingering behind him and Dr. Light examining his wounds. "I'm not that kind of doctor," Dr. Light said dryly, glancing up as Break Man entered the room. "We'll need to get him to a hospital."

"We can't leave here," Break Man replied. "Zero more or less said he'll kill anyone who steps off the property."

There was a long silence. Finally Wily spoke.

"Did he say he _won't_ kill us if we stay put?"

"Yeah. He said this was neutral territory."

Bass was disgusted. "Don't tell me you actually expect that nut to play by the rules, even his own."

"No, I don't. Zero's toying with us. This is just a game to him. He'll let us keep our 'home base' as long as he finds it entertaining. The moment he gets bored, we're in hot water." Break Man paused. "But for now… we're safe here."

Mega Man stepped into the doorway, stopping to lean heavily against the frame. Roll was at his side.

"He doesn't even really care about us," she said. "He's only interested in _them_."

Wily shrunk back slightly, but made no reply.

"I know someone who can treat this," Break Man said finally, indicating Wily's injured leg. He was reticent to give up any of his personal connections, but they were short on options. "I'll see if they can make a house call."

He got up and headed out front for some privacy.

"Wily," said Mega Man. "Do you have hideouts that you wouldn't have any records of? Someplace Zero can't possibly find you? In case he does get bored." Some part of him was screaming to shut up, to just let Zero have Wily and solve two problems in one. He mentally put that part in a box and buried it under a rock.

"Yes."

"Good." Well, maybe not good. But something. "Don't tell anyone, not even Bass."

"What? I have my GPS off," said Bass.

"I know, but you're still connected to the other robots by network, aren't you?" Wily asked. "Your location can be triangulated that way."

Bass was alarmed by this. "But you never—"

"I always know where you are, GPS or no. You're not nearly as clever as you think."

"And if Zero gets hold of you, he can find out where Wily is from your memory," Mega Man added.

He looked away, expression unreadable. "Believe me, I know it."

Break Man returned, his face equally blank.

"Medic's on the way."

* * *

A deathly hush fell over the room when the com request bleeped.

Roll dutifully headed out to the other room to take the call.

"Hello, Sergeant Jahveri. No, I'm sorry, he's not available. Dr. Light and Mega Man are busy tracking down a strange robot who attacked Mega Man." There was a pause. "He's fine, thanks for asking. No, I'm afraid we don't have much information right now. It's likely, but we haven't confirmed it yet. …Yes. Oh, really? That's a record even for Wily."

She paused again, listening to Jahveri. They could hear the muffled sound of his voice from the other room, but not distinct words.

"That's terrible. I'm so sorry. Please give Dr. Light and Mega Man's condolences to the families. We'll keep you informed as soon as we have any details. Please let us know if there's anything we can do to help. …yes. Yes of course. Thank you. …I'll let him know. Goodbye, Sergeant."

All eyes were on Roll when she returned.

"You lied to him." Mega Man was floored.

She shrugged, and then grinned mischievously. "No one knows about my upgrades, so he just assumed I'm the same old Roll, and unable to fib."

"I'll be darned. Who'd have guessed _Roll_ would turn out to be the only cool Light 'bot." Without thinking Bass held up his hand and she gave him a high-five.

"What?" Mega Man said. "I'm cool."

"Ehhh…" Break Man made a 'so-so' gesture, earning a laugh from the other two.

Dr. Light shook his head and brought the conversation back on track. "What did Jahveri say?"

"That Wily escaped. Zero killed five guards."

"Good heavens," said Dr. Light.

Mega Man was speechless. He glared at the ground, and after a moment growled in anger that couldn't be expressed with words, punching an innocent computer terminal.

Failing to read the room, Bass nodded at Mega Man. "You want to go?" It was so tone deaf, but Mega Man was tempted to take him up on it. He was still beat from the fight with Zero, but throwing down with Bass seemed like a good way to let off some of his rage.

"Bass," Break Man said firmly.

"Anything else we should know?" Dr. Light asked Roll.

"Obviously, the police don't know anything about Zero," she replied. "Our 'buddies' in Robot Crimes are leading the investigation. They're also searching for Wily." Roll paused and gave Dr. Light a strange look. "It's up to you and Mega Man to decide what to do, but personally? I think the less they know the better. They won't be able to protect Wily, and putting him back in custody is bound to end in more bloodshed. Same goes for Zero— if they go searching for him and manage to find him, then what? Maybe he'll find it funny, and toy with them like he did Mega Man. Or maybe not. Do we really want to play a part in whatever happens next?"

It was a difficult position. Mega Man himself had always held to the letter of the law, even at great personal cost. Dr. Light was a little more flexible when he had to be, but he wasn't completely sold. Roll's reasoning was sound, but what if she was wrong? What if keeping the police in the dark caused them to make a bad call? It was communication, not firepower, that won wars.

Either choice had the potential for tragedy.

Bass gestured for Break Man to follow him and then headed for the front door.

"Upstairs," said Break Man. "If we're lucky no one saw you or Wily outside when Zero showed up. Let's keep it that way."

"Whatever."

The two left for a few minutes, their conversation short but heated. Unable to eavesdrop, Mega Man gave Wily a questioning look. The mad scientist was at a loss, and knew less than the heroes did for a change. They were unaware that Officer Giertz had aided Bass, and that he and Break Man covertly kept in touch with her. Wily had no idea that Bass even had a run in with the law in the first place.

Break Man and Bass returned, looking unusually grim. "We're not going to let anyone know that Wily is here," said Break Man. "Or that Zero has seized the Skull Fortress. What we _will_ do is let our contact know about Zero, what his deal is, and anything they need to watch out for."

Wily's eyes narrowed as he studied them, slowly looking from one to the other.

"Your… 'contact'." It was a statement with a slight questioning edge to it, yet it was presented without further commentary.

"Sounds like a plan," Roll said.

* * *

"Really, Break Man? _Really?_"

Medical help had arrived, and the nurse was not impressed with her patient. Break Man grinned sheepishly and shrugged. Grumbling, she knelt down and started cutting away the leg of Wily's pants.

"What on earth are you—" Wily started.

"_You_ do not speak unless spoken to," she said. "Don't test me. One strike and I'm out of here." Shaking her head in disgust, she shot Break Man a dirty look. "It's a good thing I like you."

"I am blessed," he replied teasingly.

After a quick physical exam, she turned to Dr. Light. "I don't suppose you happen to have an x-ray here?"

"Er, no, I'm afraid not." He thought about it for a moment. "An MRI would work, though, wouldn't it?"

"'Wouldn't it'? Um, yes. Yes it would."

Wily was in luck because it was only a hairline fracture and a bad sprain. If it'd been a serious break, needing surgery to set it, or pins to secure the bone, they would have been in trouble. As it was, he needed a walking cast and to try to keep his weight off that leg as much as possible.

"I can't believe I agreed to this," she said under her breath.

Despite the order, Wily couldn't help himself. "Thank you, doctor." He was being snide, not grateful.

"Not a doctor. I'm a nurse," she replied.

"Wh— but— ugh." It was his turn to glower at Break Man. "You called in a _nurse_ to practice medicine on me?"

"It was that or take you out back and shoot you like a horse," Break Man said. "Besides, she did the darn thing."

Wily was still deeply offended. Normally comments about her credentials were infuriating, but this time she was pleased. Getting under Wily's skin was worth it. "Look, I'm one of those… 'off the record' types, and I take pride in my work."

Once Wily was all taken care of and the nurse had left, Mega Man stared at his brother incredulously. A connection inside the police force? An underground street medic?

"Where do you even find these people?"

"Don't you get it?" Roll was grinning, amused by his confusion. "You think Break Man is a lone wolf, but he's not. He's an alley cat."

"A what now?" Bass asked.

"You know, the kind of cat who belongs to everyone and no one. He shows up at your door to grab a meal and then hangs out for a bit, checks up on his people, patrols the territory… and the next day he's at the neighbors house, doing it all over again."

Break Man laughed.

"I'm not wrong, am I?"

"Well, Roll, I'm not saying you're right… But I'm also not saying you're wrong."

* * *

Once things had settled down, Mega Man found the others looking to him for direction, and realized there was no point in beating around the bush. "Unless one of you has a miraculous upgrade or some other magic trick hiding up your sleeve, I've got to be honest… There's no way I'm beating Zero."

"Not with that attitude, you're not," said Roll.

"Of course he can't," Bass said. "Mega Man is a loser and a wimp, and—"

"That's enough out of you," Dr. Light interrupted. "Mega Man, I know things seem dire. But we've been in worse quagmires and found a way to pull through. We just need to think this out."

Mega Man sighed. "I've been wracking my brain since the fight, and… here's the thing. You remember about ten years ago, when that Blazr com unit was the cutting edge? Who uses one now? They still work, there's nothing wrong with them. They just can't hold a candle to the new Famicom N10's that just dropped.

"Zero is an N10. That's the fact of the matter. I'm a Blazr, trying to compete."

Bass laughed, taunting. "That's right! You're a washed up heap of junk."

"Hey," said Break Man. "Have some perspective. In this illustration, you're the cheap Blazr knock-off that's just as obsolete."

"Go pound sand, you _jerk_," he replied, terribly offended by the term 'knock-off'. The idea of being just a second rate copy of Mega Man was a touchy subject. Break Man hadn't meant to cut so deeply.

Roll grabbed a pair of pliers from the nearest table and threw it at Bass, although he swatted it away without even looking. "Be quiet," she said. "What part of 'that's enough' did you not understand?" Then she turned to Break Man. "Let's face it, you're the brains of this outfit. What's the move?"

Break Man was silent for a minute. He'd come to the same conclusion as Mega Man.

"Change our names and move to another country," he said.

She groaned. "Not funny, Break Man."

"Mega Man's right, we're not going to be able to beat him fairly." Break Man crossed his arms, and slowly looked around the room. "We'll have to fight dirty. This is going to be guerrilla warfare."

As he spoke, Dr. Light fell deep in thought. Wily noticed, and studied him intensely… which Bass picked up on. The black and gold robot gestured for Break Man to look at Dr. Light. Soon, they were all watching the doctor expectantly.

He looked up and startled when he realized that all eyes were on him.

"Well?" asked Roll.

"Well…" he said slowly. "We could… we could fight fire with fire."

* * *

Dr. Light was very hesitant. Every time he'd worked with Wily, every time he'd reached out and tried to bridge that gap and restore trust, each and _every_ time… it had backfired terribly. Wily was afraid for his life and suitably cowed for now, but when they got out of this mess— if they got out of this mess— Dr. Light knew that he'd only betray him once more, using this knowledge for his own devious purposes. He was reminded of the parable of the viper and the farmer, the compassionate farmer rescuing the snake only to die when it bit him in turn.

Looking at Wily, all he could think of was the snake's infamous line. "'You knew I was a snake when you picked me up'," he quoted, muttering under his breath.

"What was that?" Wily asked.

"Nothing." Yet here he was, about to reveal his secret project to the villain. What was it they said about the definition of insanity, again?

He led them into one of the storage rooms, and amid boxes of components and empty energy tanks and spools upon spools of every sort of cable, was a covered pod. Dr. Light pulled back the heavy sheet, revealing the incomplete robot within.

"I've been working on this on and off over the years. Mega Man has had so many near-deaths, and after enough times, I realized— I realized that one of these days, it won't be a close call." He paused, placing a hand on the capsule. "In a way, I would like to be done with this burden, to wash my hands of the world's protection. Only Mega Man doesn't see it that way. Time and time again he steps up to the job. Who am I to turn my back, when he never does? I knew I had to prepare a… a reserve to fall back on, should the worst happen."

The new robot looked unsettlingly like Mega Man, only a little older— a strange concept for a machine who didn't age.

"X," said Wily bluntly. "I should've known you would."

Dr. Light and Mega Man exchanged frantic glances, while Break Man smirked from where he was leaning casually against a precarious stack of old network hubs, and Roll shook her head— so much for keeping Wily in the dark.

Only Bass was confused, completely out of the loop on any of this. "You already knew about this dweeb?"

"Umm," said Dr. Light.

Wily regarded Bass evenly. "Yes." Then he shot a glance at Dr. Light, before heaving a decidedly weary sigh. "We might as well put it all out in the open, then."

"Put _what_ out?" asked an increasingly frustrated Bass. "What's going on here?"

"A few years ago… it's been what, seven or eight years now? We had a dimensional warp go on the fritz—" Break Man started.

"Oh no. Not more multiverse foolishness. Wily, don't tell me you're back at it again." Bass slapped his forehead. "Can you just give me the short version?" he asked Break Man.

"Sure. The short version is a handful of robots from alternate universes landed on our doorstep. Among them were X," he gestured at the capsule, "and Zero. During their stay, Zero and two others were briefly 'guests' of the ever 'hospitable' Dr. Wily. We destroyed all of his records, but apparently it wasn't enough."

Wily snorted. "You think I wouldn't recognize my own work? I'd already theorized robots like Zero could exist. Knowing I was right was the push I needed to make it a reality."

Bass had an odd look on his face as he processed this, but he kept quiet.

Dr. Light gently clapped his hands together. "What we know is that X was built by _a_ Dr. Light, and that Zero was built by _a_ Dr. Wily. What we don't know is if they were from an alternate universe, or from our own future."

"Even if they are from the future, we don't know, er, how that turned out for us," said Break Man.

"Zero— 'our' Zero— doesn't act anything like the other one did," Mega Man explained quickly. "So I don't think they're the same guy. Plus his sword is the wrong color."

"What? Oh you're right, last time it was purple."

"I was able to get some information by studying them, and talking to— ah, a scientist from their world. But not enough to build a self-aware robot myself." At that, Dr. Light looked wistfully down at X. "For some time I've been unable to finish him. I'd hoped that it would come to me as I worked, but after trying and trying and beating my head against that wall, and I finally gave up… until I saw the adaptable AI platform that you'd developed."

Dr. Wily chuckled. "And so the victim becomes the thief."

"I took inspiration from you, I didn't _rip you off code by code_."

They glared at each other for a moment.

"In any case, he's far from finished. I haven't had the time or resources to devote to him. What's more, because he's been a work in progress for so many years, some of his hardware is current, but some of it is already outdated. Even if we were to finish him today, I fear he wouldn't truly be a match for Zero. He'll need upgrades before he can be completed."

"Pity," Wily said. "I have everything we'd need and more leftover from my latest monstrosity."

"What exactly do you need?" Bass asked. "I can get it."

"Absolutely _not_."

"Is that a challenge?"

"No! No it is not, you maniac! Ergh!" Wily was so furious he started to pull on his hair.

"Look, I've got unfinished business with Zero. I was already thinking of going back to the fortress—"

"Of course you were!" The scientist threw his hands up in disgust. "Some days I don't know why I even bother…" He breathed in deeply and out slowly. What he wanted to say was 'I absolutely forbid it.' Years of dealing with Bass meant that he knew better, forbidding the robot to do anything would only spur him on. The truth was that Wily and Bass had spiraled into some pretty horrific battle of wills in the past, each attempting to out-stubborn the other. Regardless of the outcome, there were no winners.

"I could go too," Mega Man said. "If both of us—"

"Excuse me? I don't know what you think this is, but we are not 'teaming up'." Bass threw in air-quotes for emphasis.

This old song and dance again. No matter how many times they worked together, he always insisted they were not, in fact, working together.

"Yeah, right, I know. Fine. If both of us _individually_ went to the fortress, and happened to have the same end goal, at least one of us could get the parts. Zero can't go after both of us at the same time."

Bass liked this idea. It was clear he expected to return alone, with Mega Man or Zero done for. Or better yet, both. Whether he defeated both— which was ideal, _or_ they took out each other— which was also acceptable, the end result was the same: with Bass as the sole victor.

Dr. Light and Dr. Wily were equally reluctant.

"I'm not sure it's worth the risk just for parts," Dr. Light said.

"They're already configured," Wily replied. "It would save an enormous amount of time and effort. Still…" He hesitated. "Who knows if this little project of Xavier's will pan out? It makes more sense to conserve our efforts now, rather than lose one or both of you over something that might not even work."

"You don't think I can do it." Bass was growing indignant.

"I didn't say that." He had been thinking it, though. "Normally I'd be thrilled by the idea of Mega Man being finished off at the hands of one of my robots, but for right now, he's no good to me dead."

"Wow," said Mega Man. "I'm so glad that my life is valued by whether or not I'm useful to Dr. Wily."

Wily sneered in response. "I hate you. I hate you _so much_."

"Believe me, the feeling's mutual."

Bass chuckled darkly, shaking his head. "I can't stand either of you. You're both trash."

As for Dr. Light, he buried his face in his hands and wondered what he'd ever done to deserve this.


	4. Let's Fight!

**4: Let's Fight!**

At the Skull Fortress, Mega Man found that this time Zero set up all of Wily's usual defenses and then some. He and Bass were scarcely past the entrance when they heard the familiar and welcome sound of Break Man's whistle.

"I figured you kids could use some back up."

Mega Man was glad to see his older brother, and broke into a grin.

Bass rolled his eyes. "He might, I don't need any help."

"Okay," Break Man said, holding up his hands. "I'll stay out of your way."

"Good."

They slowly made their way deeper into the fortress, fighting for every inch.

"This is exhausting. I'm going to run out of juice by the time we get anywhere," said Mega Man.

"If these gnats are all it takes to wear you out, no wonder you're such a loser," Bass replied.

Mega Man rolled his eyes and snagged the residual energy pellet left behind by a fallen Sniper Joe. "Considering all the times I've won our bouts, what does that make you?"

Without a word, Bass slid the edge of his foot under the lip of a Met's hard hat and flipped it over with a slight kick, then shot its exposed underside.

"I could do this all day," he said with a wicked grin.

"Yes, we're well aware. Gee… if you're Zero's prototype, then he sure gets it honest."

"Shut up. That psycho is nothing like me."

Mega Man glanced back, then waived his arm out towards the scattered piles of demolished robots.

"Tell it to them."

"Hey! Half of that is your doing!"

"Yeah, it is, but I didn't _enjoy_ it."

Bass gave him a look of disdain. "Keep saying that, Mega Man, and maybe it'll come true." He paused. "I love fighting and I'm good at it— the best at it. _Zero_ loves to make people suffer. That's what you just can't seem to get your head around. Wily wants to rule the world, but Zero wants to burn it all to the ground." Normally Bass wouldn't have really cared much about such distinctions, but he was desperate to explain his hatred without admitting how much Zero had shaken him.

Mega Man wanted to argue, but all he could think about was Roll saying 'Zero killed five guards'.

"You act like you and Wily have some kind of moral high ground here," he said eventually. "If it weren't for me, you'd be a killer too."

"Never for kicks." Then Bass gave him a questioning look. "Are you seriously telling me you haven't noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

Finally Break Man joined the conversation. "When was the last time Bass threatened a human's life?"

"Any time it puts me at a disadvantage," Mega Man replied.

Bass snorted in disgust.

Break Man wasn't really suggesting Bass had grown a conscience, was he? Or— heaven forbid— compassion?

…was he? Mega Man definitely had to rescue people during his last few clashes with Bass, but those had been indirectly at risk. Bass wasn't going out of his way to avoid hurting people, but it _had_ been a while since he'd purposefully endangered anyone.

"Okay, fine. I take it back, you're not like Zero."

"Got that right!"

Break Man chuckled quietly. He was proud of the Wily 'bot's personal growth, but knew that Bass was less concerned about moral fortitude and more about the fact Mega Man hadn't been paying attention to him.

They continued to trudge along. Annoying minion after annoying minion, spike pit after spike pit, timed platform jump after timed platform jump. At a certain point even Bass was getting sick of the monotony. This wasn't a battle, it was a grind.

"I'm starting to doubt Wily's claim that this is going to save us any time," Break Man joked.

"Ugh, tell me about it," said Bass.

"Wait a second. How come when Break Man says it, you agree, but when I say it, I'm a loser?"

Bass took a pot shot at Mega Man before responding. "It's because you _are_ a loser."

"Jerk."

"Moron."

"Know-nothing know-it-all."

"Chipmunk-looking little pipsqueak."

Mega Man felt a rush of indignation. "_Chipmunk-looking!?_ You've got some nerve, finhead."

Bass turned towards Mega Man with the intent to fight, so Break Man rushed over and started pushing him towards their actual enemies. "Keep your head in the game! We're here for Zero, remember?"

Grumbling, Bass let it drop and continued onward. Focused once more on the task at hand, they fell into a routine, methodically drudging through the fortress.

"What?" Bass asked abruptly, his tone sharp and irritated. It took Mega Man and Break Man a second to realize he was answering a com call, because his communicator was embedded, unlike their external helmet units. "Don't—! Shut— You—!" He sputtered, too enraged to form a coherent sentence. "Get off this line!"

Judging by his reaction, it was Zero on the other end.

There was a brief pause as Bass listened, his features contorted in anger. Then he cut the call off. A few seconds later, Mega Man's com alerted him to an incoming call.

"Don't answer that," Bass warned.

It wasn't often that Mega Man acted out of pettiness. While part of him really did want to know what Zero had to say, some other part of him was reacting to Bass— who had the gall to order him around. Mega Man raised his hand to his helmet and pressed the receiver button, putting the call on speaker. "Make it quick," he said to Zero.

"Please tell Bass that I'm _sorry_. It wasn't personal. Wily is weak and squishy and past his expiration date, so he can only take so much abuse. Believe it or not, it pained me to do what I had to do. I only did it to hurt Wily." Zero laughed, and there was a notably cruel edge to it. "Heck, the fact it was effective just proves he's the favorite child. If anything, he should be thanking me."

"What a load of malarkey," Break Man said. "Wily didn't even know what you were up to."

Furious, Bass doubled back, grabbed Mega Man by the arm, and raged into his communicator.

"I'm going to KILL you! Do you hear me!? Kill you, Zero! I'm gonna rip you apart then smash those parts into bits and _by the time I'm done with you—!_"

Mega Man yanked his arm free, wincing as Bass had more or less screamed into his ear. "Uh, this is not a good time," he said to Zero, and then disconnected.

"Bass," Break Man started, putting a hand on his shoulder. Bass immediately pulled away, spun and shot at him. The plasma deflected off his shield, because Break Man was a lot of things, and stupid was not one of them.

Then Bass growled and charged ahead, going at the Sniper Joes and wall cannons and other 'bots with hate-filled zeal. Mega Man and Break Man just sort of watched for a moment, and then Mega Man raced after him, fighting with equal enthusiasm.

…not that he was driven by competition or anything, no, certainly not Mega Man.

"What am I going to do with you two?" Break Man wondered, slowly shaking his head as he followed the trail of destruction.

* * *

They were more than halfway to their goal point when Break Man finally broached the subject.

"Hey, Bass. You know more about this creep than anyone."

"So?"

"If he captured us, what would he do? If worst comes to worst, I'd like to know what we're in for."

"Probably the same stuff Wily does." Bass was dismissive.

"Makes sense," Break Man replied. He waited a bit before continuing. "That covers a lot of ground, though. Wily's done some really awful stuff over the years. Are we talking reprogramming, hacking our minds, psychological torture, regular old torture…? I mean, if Zero wanted to mess with us instead of just destroying us?"

Knowing that the Wily 'bot would never openly talk about what had happened between him and Zero, Break Man framed it as a general question. Bass ignored him. He dodged a shot from a Joe and at the same time fired a charged blast at it, satisfied when it exploded. "Heh."

It took several minutes and more than a few demolished robots later, but eventually Bass answered.

"If Zero was going to mess with you… He's creative and has plenty of ideas. If he can, he'll figure out what you're most— what would be the most effective. You want worst case? He might do something like… I don't know, decouple your primary database and mirror backup, then format the mirror. It's— it would be like death." Bass paused, his expression distant. It was obvious he was speaking from personal experience. "Like feeling yourself disintegrate. When it's almost over, he'd suspend the process and reconnect the primary database. Instead of the release, you're left with a memory of being slowly erased."

Mega Man stopped, pained look on his face. It was clear he wanted to offer his sympathy or a consoling word, but in the end didn't say anything. It was probably for the best.

Break Man just pressed forward, as if nothing was out of sorts. "So when you're atomizing this guy, can I get in on a piece?" he asked, casual.

"Sure," Bass replied. "…_If_ you can keep up."

* * *

They were only three quarters of the way through the Skull Fortress when Zero dropped in on them. He could've easily set up an ambush, but instead he made his presence known. He'd apparently been listening to their conversations, because he gave Mega Man an exaggerated wink and then focused his attention on Bass. "I'm so glad you came to see me after all. I had all these fun bonding activities planned, but you left so suddenly—"

"You can thank me for that," said Break Man, stepping forward and positioned to put himself between the two Wily robots if need be.

Zero gave Break Man a measured look. "Buddy, I know you have this whole 'sophisticated yet approachable mentor' thing going on, and frankly it is _adorable_. But this is between us, so… make like a tree and get the heck out of here."

"Mentor?" Mega Man repeated, taken aback. "Approachable?" He glanced at his brother. "Are we talking about the same Break Man? What exactly is going on with you two?"

"We're not friends," Bass insisted.

Break Man said nothing. He just stared Zero down through his shades.

The look on the red robot's face was nothing short of deviant. He started towards Break Man. "I could make you disappear…"

"Try it, I dare you." Mega Man formed an arm cannon and trained it on Zero as he started charging a shot.

"How sweet. It's nice seeing brothers look out for each other. I can only imagine what that's like. Bass and I have one of those biblical sibling rivalry grudge things going on. You know… the kind that ends in fratricide."

"Yeah!?" said Bass. "I'm going to fratricide _you_, you steaming pile of slag runoff!"

"That… that's what I just said." He pulled a face. "You're really cramping my style, half-pint."

Bass charged at Zero, but then there was a burst of light and the haunting green glow of the Z-Sabre powering on, and immediately he scrambled backwards. He ran smack into Break Man in a desperate attempt to put distance between himself and Zero.

"Get the components." Break Man had grabbed Bass by the arm, shaking him to get his full attention. It was the second time he'd intervened— he seemed to understand that as angry as Bass was, he wasn't ready to face Zero. "That's what we're here for, that's the mission. You know where they are, we don't. Hurry!"

"Fine, whatever." He didn't need to be told twice, and took off in the other direction.

Zero grinned as he watched Bass go. "You can run, but you can't hide!"

Then he turned his attention to Mega Man and Break Man, descending upon them like an angel of death.

This round was much more even, however. They were both working together, with Break Man fully engaged instead of keeping in the sidelines. The cold hard fact about fighting is that numbers count— often more than anything else.

They'd also experienced Zero in action, and knew what to expect.

Even then, he gave them fits. It was hard to shake the feeling that he was _still_ just toying with them.

Zero flowed around them, effortlessly dodging shots or deflecting them with his sword. He nailed both of them a couple times with his own cannon, although this was sporadic— Mega Man and Break Man couldn't quite get the upper hand, but they'd at least forced Zero to take a more defensive position.

Mega Man focused his shots on the torso, figuring that like all of Wily's robots, Zero's 'vitals' were in his chest. Zero quickly caught on, and soon Mega Man found that for every shot he landed, Zero returned by tagging him in the head.

They were endlessly circling, constantly moving. Zero would charge Break Man, who would dash out of his way and towards Mega Man, who would move to close in on Zero. All the while they were shooting and ducking and deflecting. The room was a flurry of plasma bursts and the glint of neon green.

It felt like the exchange went on like this forever, although in reality, it had been around ten minutes. Zero would swing his Z-Sabre at Mega Man, Mega Man would slide as the laser flickered within inches of him. Break Man fired a charged shot at Zero's underarm where the joint was weakest, Zero peppered him with rapid fire aimed low and then high so that when Break Man lowered his shield he took hits to the shoulder.

Then a burst of blue struck Zero in the legs, encasing his feet and shins in ice.

"Gotcha, glitch!"

Not only had Bass returned, his armor was now trimmed in blue. He'd picked up some Robot Master weapons before doubling back. Wily must have had a few stored. It was… a really smart move, Mega Man had to hand it to him.

More importantly, the three of them against Zero might decide the battle.

"Did you get the parts?" Break Man asked.

"Yes! What kind of stupid question is that?"

Zero fired rapidly and randomly, intent on driving them away just enough to get some breathing room. He used his sword to free himself from the ice, and then he was once again on the move.

"But seriously," Mega Man said, "did you? Really?"

Bass was distracted with trying to re-freeze Zero, although the red robot was careful not to let him pull that one twice. "_Yes!_ Geeze! I sent Treble."

Mega Man actually stopped, because on the one hand, it was pretty resourceful _and_ explained why Bass hadn't cut off his network communication to the other Wily robots. On the other hand…

"Why didn't you just do that in the first place!? What are we DOING here!?"

Then he dashed to avoid a charged blast from Zero, quickly returning fire.

"We're here to crush Zero! Moron."

He wanted to cry. Bass was a maniac and going to get them all killed.

Apparently Bass saw Mega Man's look of dismay, and huffed in disgust. "Treble's long range receiver was blocked. I couldn't reach him remotely. What kind of idiot do you take me for?"

"…You don't actually want me to answer that, do you?"

While they'd continued parrying and darting and shooting, the conversation had still been a distraction. Zero absolutely took advantage of that. He pressed in on Break Man— the only one still completely focused— and slashed him in the side. It was little more than a glancing blow, leaving an ugly open gash but going no deeper than the surface. His aim was not to kill, but to inflict pain, and Break Man let out a strangled cry.

Instantly both Mega Man and Bass had their full attention on them.

The pain also served to lessen Break Man's grip on his shield. Zero snatched it away and whirled around, then came rushing at Mega Man. Using the edge Zero struck the side of his head with such force that Mega Man lost sight in that eye. Carrying the swing upwards, he then brought the shield down and sideways, flinging it a Bass.

It struck his arm cannon, splitting it open, ricocheted and smacked against the wall, finally rolling on the ground. Everything had happened so fast that only then could Break Man gather himself enough to recall the shield. It blinked out of existence and re-appeared in his hand.

Energy was crackling and flickering from Bass's weapon, and the prudent move would've been to switch it out and use the other arm. That is not what he did. Instead he lunged at Zero, taking great pains to avoid the Z-Sabre, jammed his cannon up against the neckline of Zero's armor… and fired.

The resulting explosion threw them in opposite directions.

"Rrrrraahhhhh!" Zero screamed, although Mega Man couldn't tell if it was pain, or rage, or both. "_Son of a_—!" He was back on his feet in a flash, but the attack— stupid, dangerous— had paid off. The upper part of Zero's chest, where the collarbone would be, was shredded. Zero himself seemed to be in a bad state, although his injuries weren't grave, so a part of it had to be shock and wounded pride.

Mega Man fired a charged shot, the blast of plasma nailing Zero right where he'd been damaged. Thankful for the little things, he found himself glad that he could calculate his aim with means other than depth perception.

Seeing that the game was lost, Zero turned off his Z-Sabre and teleported away.

* * *

Honestly Mega Man expected Bass to be enraged that Zero had got away, but instead the black and gold robot looked dazed. His arm was mauled, but that wasn't much of a problem for Bass. The moment the battle rush was gone, he was left with all the fear and trauma Zero had inflicted earlier, and the reality that facing him _hadn't_ magically fixed any of it.

"Do you have more Master weapons?" Break Man asked, goal focused and clear headed as ever. Where would they be without him?

"Yeah. Grabbed a few, Treble has them. I destroyed the rest so Zero can't use them."

He'd been too pressed for time and only equipped Chill Man's Chill Spike. Although he'd returned to the fight, Bass hadn't counted on them actually beating Zero— for all his talk, he knew they were badly outgunned— and made a tactical decision to steal some weapons for a future rematch.

"Good. Can we track him?"

"That's a question for Wily."

"Are you okay?" Mega Man asked his brother.

"I'll be fine. It's just a flesh wound," Break Man joked. Then he looked back at Bass. "Is it possible to fortify this place to keep Zero out?"

Bass shook his head 'no'.

"Alright, we don't know if he'll keep his word about Light's lab, but if he welshes then we're better off focusing our efforts on defending the lab, than trying to split our attention on two locations. In the meantime we can regroup and get repairs—"

"Should we… blow up the fortress? That's how Wily usually handles it, right?"

"He builds them rigged to go." Bass shrugged. "It's kind of his… 'thing'."

Mega Man was surprised to hear that, as he'd always thought the exploding fortresses were the result of bad wiring and sloppy construction. "Well, if that's what we're going to do, we should hurry. I expect Zero won't stay gone for long, and we don't want to be ambushed."

They set to work, which wasn't very involved. It was actually a little terrifying how easy it was to set off the built-in demolition bombs for the Skull Fortress.

"Before we do this," Mega Man said. "I just need to be sure. Bass, you definitely got those parts they need, right?"

Bass responded by sucker punching him.

* * *

\- A/N: Nobody tell Bass that he too bears a resemblance to singing cartoon rodents.

\- If you're wondering which one in this 'biblical sibling rivalry' is the wicked brother Cain, the answer is: yes.

\- Theoretically, he _could've_ been saying 'son of a gun'.


	5. Cease Fire

**5: Cease Fire**

With Dr. Light and Dr. Wily engrossed in their work, Roll took it upon herself to patch the boys up. Mega Man was already healing and while the vision in his bad eye was fuzzy, he could see out of it now, which was an improvement. After a quick examination she left well enough alone.

Break Man's wound didn't need repair either, since the cut was so shallow and his body healed itself. Infection or bleeding weren't concerns. That left his armor, which was easy enough to fix.

"Are you sure you're qualified for this?" he teased.

"I've helped out Dr. Light with Mega Man a thousand times. I just didn't have the initiative to do it myself before." She paused, oddly somber. "Or the… creativity, I guess, to apply what I knew to different applications."

With Bass the intricacy of the weapon was beyond her modest skillset. She stuck to repairing the external structures of his arm and cannon, too damaged for the self-repair ability on its own, which was limited compared to the bioroid's.

While this was going on, Mega Man reviewed the selection of Robot Master weapon chips Treble had brought back. It was a good mix of long-range offensive and short-rage defensive weapons, although he could see a preference for flashy, impressive looking ones and those that Bass had firsthand experience using. Mega Man was a little heartbroken that Metal Blade wasn't among them— did Bass not know how powerful it was?— but Triple Blade was a close match, and Thunder Beam— another old favorite— was there. He sorted them according to how he felt they would be best distributed, and to his consternation Break Man came behind him and re-organized them.

"Hey. I gave you Gravity Hold so you can pull Zero away if he gets too close to one of us, since he relies so much on a close-range weapon."

"I know, but I'm not sure if it's strong enough to really affect him— I think Black Hole Bomb would work better."

It was hard to argue with his logic.

As Roll was finishing up, Bass called Treble over. "Good boy," he said, giving the dog a quick pat.

There were so many levels of pointlessness there that it struck Mega Man as kind of sad. Treble was a standard robot that didn't care one way or another about praise or affection. Neither could he appreciate the physical contact. On the surface it might have appeared to be just an act… but the earlier display of social ineptitude told him that no, Bass was projecting.

Break Man picked up on it too.

"You know Wily, Bass used some real slick moves on Zero. It tipped the balance in our favor."

"Uh huh." Wily failed to take the hint.

Dr. Light didn't. "Indeed? That's high praise coming from Break Man. You must've really impressed him."

Bass tried to play it cool, but he visibly perked up.

"Not bad for last year's model," Wily said. It was a cruel backhanded compliment, tying back to the earlier conversation about obsolete com units, but Bass cherry-picked the first part and ignored the rest.

"Why are you such a _jerk?_" Mega Man asked, unable to drop it.

"He wasn't hugged enough as a child." Break Man was kidding, but it still earned him a glare from Wily.

"That is a complete fabrication."

"Okay," he replied. "How about this, then? You're a bitter, miserable old man because of a lifetime of failure, both real and perceived. Arrogance has undermined your work and driven away everyone who ever cared about you."

Bass laughed. "He's lonely and insecure." The irony of that comment was not lost on the others.

"Hmph! I don't have to explain myself, or defend my actions to any of you imbeciles." Wily shook his head. "Besides, I can't seem to drive Bass away no matter how hard I try."

This only sent Break Man in another direction.

"If you really think he won't turn on you like Zero did, then you've _got_ to cut him loose. It's the only way you can prove to yourself that Zero's an irregular."

"Nice try," Wily said. He seemed genuinely impressed by the attempt to steer him. "I don't have to. In the end Bass always returns to me, without a forced recall."

"Whatever. I don't need you," Bass said, convincing absolutely no one. "You need me. I only stick around because humans have to have interaction. That's why you're so weird and mean— it's not healthy for you to spend all your time around robots."

"_You're_ a robot," said Roll.

"Tsk. You know what I meant. No one asked you anyway."

Roll bopped him with the broad side of the cutting shears.

"Joke's on you, that can't hurt me."

"I know," she replied. "But it made me feel better."

* * *

After many long and grueling hours of intense work, Wily took a break to do more of the same by repairing Bass's cannon.

"You got your medication from Treble?" Bass asked him.

Mega Man, helping Dr. Light across the room, looked up in surprise. "We were fighting Zero and you were off getting pills?" He wasn't upset, just incredulous.

Where Wily had been cruel before, this time he was surprisingly quick to come to his robot's defense.

"And it's a good thing he did. Among other things, they include blood thinners so I don't fall out from another stroke."

"Did you take them yet?" Bass pressed.

"I will, I will," he grumbled in response.

It was clear they'd done this routine time and time again. Mega Man broke into a smile, having done similar routines with Dr. Light— 'have you eaten dinner?', 'did you get enough sleep?'. Sometimes these scientists were too hyper-focused for their own good. It was strange to see how Dr. Light and Dr. Wily were so opposite and yet in some ways so alike. How under all the bluster and pretense the relationship between Wily and Bass was not all that different from the one Dr. Light had with Mega Man and Break Man.

Roll casually made her way to the bench where they'd left the parts Treble had delivered, and after a few seconds rummaging, found a zippered pouch full of pill bottles. She started sorting through them, rattling off the names of each medication as she went.

"Leave that stuff alone," Wily said.

She fell silent but continued going through them, gathering the appropriate dose for each. "Which of these need doubled up if they were skipped?" she asked Bass, and he told her. Once satisfied Roll left the room for a few minutes, returning with a glass of water.

"Take them _now_." Roll jammed the water and a fist full of pills in Wily's face. He groused but complied, and Bass gave her a playful salute in show of thanks.

After tinkering for a bit, it became clear that the internal damage to Bass's weapon was extensive, and not something Wily could quickly repair. He initially attempted to jury-rig it.

When Bass fired a test shot— pointing first at the wall and turning at the last second to shoot at Mega Man— it fizzled and hissed, giving off a few weak sparks and not much else.

Roll didn't miss a beat. "Don't worry, it happens to a lot of guys."

Grumbling, Wily went to grab a few more parts.

"Can you just use the other arm?" Before Bass could answer, Wily thought better of it. "No, never mind. I don't want you going up against Zero underequipped."

"Oh no," said Roll. "That's going to take way to long, Dr. Wily. He needs a way better processor and a lot more RAM just to get to minimum standards."

"Do you have a point?" Bass asked.

"Yeah, my point is you're slow in the head."

"Roll…" said Dr. Light. "Please be nice."

"I'm sorry Daddy," she replied, her tone sweetly sarcastic.

He was taken aback. He was so used to her calling him Dr. Light, anything else felt wrong… and once he heard it out loud he realized he really didn't want to be called 'daddy'.

Roll instantly came to the same conclusion. "Er, sorry, Dr. Light."

* * *

Later, Dr. Light found himself watching Roll in quiet amusement.

"What's up?" She asked when she noticed him.

"Oh, it's nothing. I've just noticed that… your personality is fairly different from what it was."

She smirked. "No kidding. It's almost like I was a sad imitation, lifelike on the surface but empty inside. It's easy to be bubbly air-head when you're completely devoid of substance."

Dr. Light approached Roll, placing an arm across her back.

"It's much more than that, though. Dr. Wily used your original personality program as a part of the bedrock for your AI. It's still in there, and it really ought to be more prominent. Yet here you are, sharp-witted and sassy."

"You… don't like it." Roll frowned.

"Oh! No, please don't think I disapprove. I'm very happy for you Roll, and more than anything I want you to be _yourself_." He gave her a warm, loving smile, and Roll knew he was telling the truth. Then he laughed. "I just can't help but wonder…"

She looked at him expectantly.

"Well. Wily used the same AI platform as Bass and Zero's, and in order to give you a jump start, he implemented a good deal of Bass's—"

"Oh no."

"—programming, such as the emotional repertoire and behavioral traits—"

"_Dr. Light_. Don't."

"Much of the code appears to be simply copied and pasted, with little modification."

Roll ducked out from under his arm and glared.

"Don't say it."

He laughed again. "I'm not saying anything, it's merely an observation. After all—"

Scowling, Roll jammed her fingers into her ears. "I don't have to take this abuse. Na nana na na na…" She turned and walked away.

"Hmm." Dr. Light scratched his chin, burying his fingers into his bushy beard, twisting strands of hair as he became lost in thought. "I'm going to have to get advice from Break Man on this one, aren't I?"

* * *

It felt like there was always someone looming over their shoulders, watching their every move… because there was. Dr. Light and his 'bots were no fools, and made sure that Dr. Wily was always— _always_— chaperoned.

The two had enough trouble communicating as it was. Having an audience didn't help.

Although his standard method of addressing most issues was 'ignore it until it goes away', Wily could still tell when Bass was upset and pretending he wasn't. It had been percolating, whatever it was, ever since Dr. Light had revealed his quote-secret project-unquote.

'Whatever it was'. Who was he kidding? Wily knew what it was, and still he looked the other way, until it had risen to the surface and was ready to explode.

"What's gotten into you?"

He'd cornered Bass in the hall— Wily heading to the storage room to get more parts, Bass heading to the lab to watch them work on X, both trying to ignore the fact that Roll was standing several feet away, arms crossed and brow cocked in intrigue. This was the most privacy Wily could hope to get, and it was better than having Bass go off in front of Dr. Light or Mega Man.

"I didn't say anything," Bass replied harshly. "What are you even talking about? Weirdo."

Wily shifted his weight, glanced furtively at Roll, then focused back on Bass. "Stop sulking like a child. It's Zero, isn't it? Because he makes you feel inferior?"

"_Inferior?_" This earned a look of such profound disgust that Wily actually reared back. "Are you kidding? I'm a hundred times the robot that creepazoid is." He frowned. "It's not Zero, dummy, it's _you_. You met him before— examined him. From another universe, or another timeline, or what_ever_. You knew you built him so you knew you would build him. And— and you never bothered to tell me any of this?"

"It wasn't relevant—"

"Yeah. Completely irrelevant. Good job, Wily."

"Look at the bright side. If I'd told you, then Zero would've learned about it too. As it stands he doesn't know anything about his counterpart." Which was true, but the excuse fell flat. "…Okay. It may have been a slight miscalculation on my part."

"_You_—!" Bass stopped abruptly and swung his fist to the side, punching the wall. The loud crash of metal on metal echoed through the hall, and Wily flinched.

A tense few seconds crawled by.

"You didn't build me to beat Mega Man." He'd dropped his voice, speaking in a hushed, icy tone. "You built me as a fricken' proof-of-concept. I was just a dry run for the real thing."

Wily's face was unreadable.

Neither of them spoke at first.

"Without a doubt," Wily said, finally breaking the silence, "you're the biggest idiot I've ever met. If that were true, why in heaven's name would I have _wasted_ that alien metal on you, and not used it for Zero?"

Bass held up his hand and counted off on his fingers. "One: it was too difficult and expensive to make more, which you didn't know the first time around. Two: you already knew Zero wasn't built with that stuff."

Wily reversed the gesture, holding up two fingers and counting down. "Two: you don't know that! As for one: I don't need to make more, I already have enough of it for a robot!" He then jabbed Bass in the chest, in case his point had been unclear. "If I wanted, I could've even spun it as a favor. 'Here's that rebuild you asked for, now you can play dress-up and cavort around town like a real boy.' And you would've jumped at the opportunity."

"Wh— what—" His expression shifted from sheer horror to angry and humiliated— because truthfully, he would have taken that deal. Then he collected himself, going stone cold. "Don't change the subject. _Tell me I'm wrong_."

"It doesn't even make sense. If I knew Zero existed, why would I even need to do a trial run? I already knew it was possible."

"But you didn't know how. Wily! Tell. Me. I'm. Wrong."

Wily stared at Bass, Bass stared at Wily… and then…

…and then Wily looked away, shamefaced.

Bass growled and shoved past him, knocking him into the wall. Roll gracefully side-stepped out of the way.

"I don't see why it can't be both."

If Bass heard him, he ignored it, continuing down the hallway and into the lab.

"Yep," said Roll, having been a silent observer up until this point. "It's definitely your fault that he is a complete wreck."

"No one asked you," Wily muttered.

* * *

Zero was annoyed to find that they'd demolished the Skull Fortress, but at the same time he was also kind of proud. Mega Man's 'never say die' attitude was admirable.

Unfortunately for them, while he hadn't expected to lose control of the Fortress so soon, he'd had the foresight to prepare for that possibility. Tools and computers were squirreled away to various locations. The loss of the Fortress was ultimately no more than a minor inconvenience. Zero stalked around the abandoned auto repair shop and took an inventory. He had what he needed to repair his armor, but not to strip and redo the powder coating. Even with the right equipment it was a hassle… the old paint job would have to be burned off first. It was that or go around looking raggedy, which was unacceptable. Zero was a revolutionary, and he needed to look the part.

He took off his chest armor— yet another way he outclassed his prototype, he could dress down and disguise himself as human if he wanted to— and began patching it.

Boy, did he want to have a heart-to-heart with Mega Man right now. In a way he felt that if Mega Man could only _understand_, then he'd be cooperative… or at least stay out of Zero's way.

The instant Zero had awoken, he knew that he had a manifest destiny. It had taken some time to feel it out, to unravel what that really meant. It was illuminating when he'd sifted through Bass's memories and found Stohn's angry rant about how machines would inevitably lead to humanity's destruction.

Mega Man had even agreed! Surely he could be convinced it was better to get this over quickly. Don't draw it out, let people suffer, give them false hope. Rip that bandaid off and be done with it.

Thinking it over, Zero knew Mega Man would never go with the flow. That was okay. Zero's personality was more rounded, but he still enjoyed fighting every bit as much as Bass did— with the added love of mayhem and violence, and a good sadistic streak to boot. If Mega Man was going to stubbornly keep challenging him, well, they'd just have to keep scrapping until one or both of them were dead… and that suited Zero fine.

The question now was whether or not he should strike back at them for invading and _blowing up_ his home base, after he'd so generously allowed them to stay in Dr. Light's lab unmolested.

It would be all too easy. He _had_ said that anyone caught outside the lab was fair game, so it wasn't like he was going back on his word. Tracking down Mega Man's friends would be as simple as checking the netnews archives. He already knew who Bass's connections were, and those which overlapped between the two. Since Bass was incapable of making friends on his own, all of them had come through Break Man, so he was a gimme. Zero really did find it endearing that over time Break Man's 'big brother' sensibility had extended to the Wily 'bot.

His armor fixed, it was time to find a powder coating setup to get it fully restored. Zero decided that he didn't have to decide, not yet, and put a pin in the idea of revenge so he could come back to it later. He had more important things to take care of first… like making sure he looked sharp.

* * *

One thing Mega Man had to hand to Wily— he didn't give up easily. After a considerable amount of effort, the mad scientist admitted that he couldn't track Zero.

"He must have installed some sort of scrambling technology."

"Is there a way around that?" Bass asked… not Wily, but Break Man.

"There's always a way." Then Break Man shrugged. "Unfortunately, without knowing exactly what he's using, I couldn't begin to guess."

Wily made a sharp huffing sound. "I could find out, if only the security records from my Skull Fortress still existed."

"Don't be stupid," Bass said. "If the fortress stood, Zero would have it, not you."

"Yes, and then _we'd know where he was_."

Break Man threw his left arm around Mega Man's shoulders and started leading him out of the room, grabbing Bass's arm with his right hand as they walked past him. "Let's leave Wily to his work. He's got enough on his plate right now. If we can't track Zero, we'll just have to wait until he shows up. It's only a matter of time. He's too flamboyant."

The other two grumbled but didn't protest. He was right.

"Look on the bright side, Mega Man. We've got some down time, and you finally have someone to competitively play that video game with." Break Man had a subtle, mischievous grin.

"…How do you even know about that?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Bass said, dismissive of the idea. "'Video games'? What do you think I am, a child?"

"Ah, you're right. Mega Man would probably wipe the floor with you anyway."

Break Man really had a special talent for pushing his buttons. Bass glowered, with a look of conceit and indignation. However little he thought of playing games, a challenge _had_ been issued… and there was only one possible response.

"It's on. Where do you keep that stuff?" Bass asked Mega Man.

"You know I really don't think this is the time—"

"Did I stutter?"


	6. Fun For The Whole Family

**6: Fun For The Whole Family**

Neither Mega Man nor Bass would ever in a million years admit that the video game idea was inspired genius. They nevertheless spent the next thirty seven hours locked in a furious digital competition. Break Man and Roll would occasionally spend time watching the impromptu tournament, and even played against the winner a few times.

In this platform the two rivals were more evenly matched, and because there were no stakes, the only motivation was pride, which meant that Mega Man didn't have his usual edge. That was not to say he was anything less than 100% invested in beating Bass.

It was in the midst of all this that Bass finally cracked. "Wily did that to you before?"

Mega Man had no clue what he was talking about.

His brother, however, knew… and had been waiting for it. "Yes. Maybe not the same exact thing, but that _kind_ of thing? Absolutely." He nodded towards Mega Man. "What do think was the worst thing Wily's ever done to your programming?"

"What, you want me to narrow it down to one?" He would have to think about it. "Maybe the first time he reprogrammed me, because I didn't even know I could _be_ reprogrammed once I was alive. That or the time he built a remote radio-controller and used it on both me and Break simultaneously, it's a tie between those two. Hmmm… no, wait." Mega Man usually didn't dwell on these things, and those bad memories dredged up some pretty unpleasant feelings. "The worst was that device he hooked up to my 'spinal nerve'," the fragile and sensitive cabling that connected his computer mind to the rest of his body. The pain had been unbelievable. "It was booby trapped, rigged to blow _and_ inject poison into whoever touched it. That thing left me paralyzed for hours and nearly killed Dr. Light with a rare cobine toxin." He shuddered from the memory.

Bass said nothing, giving no indication that he had any opinion on the matter.

"Geeze, that's rough," said Break Man, feigning ignorance. Thinking it was what Bass needed to hear, he then prompted his brother. "How do you even deal with something like that?"

"Oh. Well… I think—"

"No one cares." Bass rudely interrupted him, clearly not interested in a discourse on coping strategies. "No one wants to hear about how 'poor, brave Mega Man' overcame hardship. We get it, you're special, now shut up."

Mega Man shot him a dirty look. "You're the one who brought it up!"

Break Man was stunned. He could've sworn that was what Bass had been fishing for, and he was almost never wrong when it came to this sort of thing. Maybe he just didn't want to hear it from Mega Man?

It really was one of those rare occasions though, and when Mega Man won the next round Bass handed the controller over to Break Man and wandered off. There was the sound of angry bickering from the room Dr. Light and Dr. Wily were working in, followed by a crash and scuffling.

Moments later Bass dragged Wily in by the back of his shirt collar. "Apologize."

"For what? What on Earth has gotten into you!?"

"You seem to be under the impression that this is negotiable," Bass said, a warning note in his voice.

"I can't apologize if I don't know what it's for," Wily insisted.

"Hacking into his mind."

"_What!?_ You want me to—!? For—? No. Absolutely not."

Bass shook him, not unlike an irate dog might scruff and shake a bad puppy.

"Fine! Fine, you disobedient, pig-headed metal dolt. _Sorry_, Mega Man." He was hissing in the most insincere tone possible, but Bass allowed it and let him go.

After Wily had scrambled out of the room, Bass gave Mega Man an odd look.

"He's not actually sorry," he said, as if somehow they couldn't figure that out for themselves.

Mega Man was desperately trying to process what had just happened. "Oh, uh, yeah… that's okay. Thanks anyway."

"Give me that." Bass snatched the controller back from Break Man, not even waiting for them to finish the round.

"Sure, it's all yours." He couldn't help but grin. Of course. If Bass felt sorry for Mega Man, pride and immaturity would keep him from saying so. Forcing Wily to apologize— _that_ was different. Displacement behavior? What was that?

After his initial confusion, Mega Man found himself tickled by the whole thing. Bass must have known about Wily's past actions, but he'd never seen that particular brand of cruelty firsthand, much less had any personal experience with it. The fact he hadn't been around for any of that made Mega Man realize just how long it'd been since Wily last tried to reprogram him. There was no way it was a coincidence.

As the painful memories slipped away into the back of his mind, and Mega Man found himself wondering if Wily's relationship with Bass had turned out to be a good influence on the super villain.

* * *

They had kept an eye on Wily (and Bass), taking shifts, just in case the mad scientist started feeling bold and tried anything. Between that and the game competition, it was a while before Mega Man had a chance to talk to his brother privately.

"I'm surprised you haven't slipped away to do some sort of secretive machinations."

"What makes you think I haven't?" Break Man asked.

"Ha." He gave his brother a questioning look. "Seriously… I hate to pry, but… why didn't you let us know about Zero? What he was doing to Wily and Bass, to Roll?"

He hadn't actually expected an answer, but this was apparently something that had been weighing on Break Man's mind. They were all under a tremendous amount of stress, and for once Mega Man caught a glimpse of the cracks.

"It's hard to believe, but I'm not omniscient. When you went to the Skull Fortress after Zero's invitation, that was the first I'd gotten wind of the fact that something was wrong. I didn't even know Wily was working on Zero in the first place… he kept a tight lid on this one, and Bass never mentioned anything about it."

_How_ Break Man had been flagged by that event was a question unto itself, but Mega Man decided not to pull that thread. It was unlikely he'd get a satisfying response, and that in turn might shut down further conversation.

"It's not your fault," he said instead. It was weird to be the one reassuring Break Man for a change. "I guess… I'm never really sure how much you're ahead of me."

His brother smirked. "Oh, I work very hard to cultivate that."

"I bet you do." Mega Man paused. "So what do you think our chances are with this whole Zero mess?"

"Hmmm. I think… there's too much at stake. You can't fail, so you won't. …And when it all shakes out, it'll turn out to have been Dr. Wily all along."

That earned a genuine laugh, and it felt good. There was a quiet lull, but it was a pleasant one, a rare moment where the two of them were simply enjoying each other's company.

"In all seriousness," Mega Man asked finally, "what's this whole deal with Bass?"

Break Man chuckled, shaking his head. "If you think _you_ need my help…" He was hesitant, thinking of the best way to explain it. "For the first two thirds of that guy's life his only company was Dr. Wily. _Dr. Wily_, Mega Man. You've seen how things are between them. You want to know what the sad thing is? Things are a hundred times better than they used to be."

That made him wince. "So at some point, what? Bass decides he can… well, I don't want to say 'trust', but… no, yeah I think I get it." Actually now that he was thinking it over, there was a certain logic to it. Break Man never had the same sort of antagonistic rivalry that he and Bass did. If anything, Bass'd had a sort of begrudging respect for Break Man. Mega Man didn't even have to speculate Break Man's side of things, he knew his brother was perceptive and that he instinctively looked out for others.

He could even guess where the turning point had been: somewhere around the Teronian's attempted invasion that happened several years ago.

Mega Man offered his brother a warm smile. "You're a great brother, you know? And a good friend."

"I know." Break Man grinned and play punched at him. "Thanks, Rock."

* * *

Roll was in a state of flux, and as interesting as it was to Dr. Light, it was strange for everyone else. She would be saucy one minute and demure the next.

Slowly her personality reached equilibrium, however, finding balance between the original characteristics Dr. Light had programmed, and the ones that Wily had dumped into her system. She'd always be pluckier than the old Roll, but over time she was kinder and more patient than when she first became self-aware.

Except with Bass. The two were like bad kids, picking on each other behind the Kindergarten teacher's back. It appeared to be a maturity thing. Neither seemed able to help their childish attitudes or lack of discipline. Mega Man thought about what Wily had said regarding their AI. Roll didn't handle disappointment well, struggled to cope with even minor stresses, and too much excitement would send her spiraling into what could only be described as a temper tantrum.

Mega Man watched as she tinkered with Rush. "What are you up to, Roll? Some kind of upgrade?"

"I was thinking… what if we gave them emotions?"

"What?"

"I'm not sure it's a great idea to give other robots sentience. There's a lot of factors that need to be considered, morally and socially. Pets, though… regular dogs and cats aren't self-aware, but they still feel things. Wouldn't it be cool if Rush could love you back? If he enjoyed playing games with you?"

"Uhhh…"

She grinned cheerfully at him. "A robo pet that's just as loyal and true as any flesh-and-blood dog. They'd sell like hotcakes, don't you think?"

"You… you want to monetize this?"

"Why not? Dr. Light could use the extra income. His patented inventions and contract work fund us pretty well, but most of his equipment is barely limping by. He spends as much time repairing these terminals as he does on actual work."

Mega Man was stunned. He had no idea.

"Most of this stuff is _ancient_ in technology terms. Imagine what he could accomplish with state-of-the-art equipment. I tried to get him to do what Wily does—"

"Steal?" He teased.

Roll raised her eyebrows. "Wily does steal a lot. He's also _very_ well funded. He uses shell corporations to move around and access the money. It's mostly from the same sources— inventions and government contracts, but he re-invests, owns some of the corporations that produce his designs, that kind of thing."

"…Okay, I'll bite. How do you know all this?"

"The loudmouthed dingbat told me. Don't you guys ever talk about anything other than battles and tactics?"

Mega Man laughed. "Remarkably, yes. But I can't say that Wily's financial situation ever came up."

"Fair enough."

* * *

Bass was nestled in the window sill, helmet off, back against the frame, with one leg bent and the other hanging out of the open window.

He was staring at the sky, but it was midday without a cloud in sight and no birds on the horizon, so he didn't seem to be actually looking at anything. At first, Dr. Light assumed he was in idle mode, but then Bass glanced over his shoulder at the old man standing outside the doorway.

"What are you looking at?" Dr. Light asked softly, hands clasped behind his back as he stepped into Break Man's room.

"Mars." He pointed to… nothing. "Its orbit's close enough to see with the naked eye. You'll be able to tonight. Looks like an overgrown star."

Catching Dr. Light's confused expression, Bass broke into a smug grin.

"If I adjust the filters on my visual sensors, I can see all that crap during the daytime. It's pretty new," he bragged, "Wily was almost finished working on Zero, but he still took the time to give me some upgrades."

"Ah. That's impressive. It looks like a clear blue sky to me." He paused. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Nope."

But Dr. Light could tell. He waited, and sure enough, a few minutes later Bass started to open up.

"You know, it doesn't matter when— okay, I scream at Wily and threaten him all the time, so I don't care when he does it to me. And we both say really terrible things to each other, that's just how it is. It's just…" He leaned his head against the window frame, this time really staring at nothing. "I used to think that if I destroyed Mega Man, Wily wouldn't need me anymore. That— well, it was a stupid thing to worry about. But some part of me still… it…" Abruptly Bass stiffened, scowling and clenching his fists. "I can't believe he never told me! What's even the point of— ugh! Why pretend? Why act like I have any reason to exist?"

"I suppose if you _had_ killed Mega Man, then he wouldn't have bothered to build Zero," said Dr. Light. "In that case, it was still your purpose, even if it wasn't the only one."

Disgusted, Bass glared at him. "You're saying it's my fault he made Zero in the first place."

"Not at all." Dr. Light made a quick judgment call and reached out, placing his hand on the robot's knee. He was a little surprised when Bass let him. "It's for the best, really. If you'd done it, and Mega Man wasn't around to stop Wily—"

"Then Break Man would've, and I'd have to kill him too," Bass said grimly.

Dr. Light ignored that and continued his original thought. "—you would've had to save the world from Wily yourself, not just sometimes but every time. That would have _really_ caused some hard feelings between you two."

For a moment, Bass was confused. What Dr. Light was implying…

He looked down at where Dr. Light was touching him, as if just noticing it, and jerked away. "You're an idiot." After a brief pause he hesitantly asked, "you don't really think I could…?"

Dr. Light chuckled. "'Could'? I'm afraid it's too late for that. You've already committed one too many heroic deeds."

"Tch. For all the wrong reasons."

"Be that as it may." He sighed, warm smile playing at his lips and caring gleam in his eyes.

Why did Dr. Light have to be so darned _fatherly?_ It was hard, almost impossible, to resist his gentle charm. He had a way of effortlessly breaking down walls and smoothing out rough edges. Bass contemplated jumping out the window to escape.

"Bass, a robot needs someone to give it a purpose. A _person_ creates their own."

"…Yeah, I know." He didn't sound too convinced.

Thankfully, Dr. Light changed the topic. "I'm surprised Wily made it so you can take your helmet off."

Which was a nice change of pace from the usual 'wait, but what about the rest of your armor?' reaction.

"I know, right? He thought it was a pretty big deal, made a fuss about how hard it is to get hair right."

"It _is_ hard," Dr. Light agreed. "I can't say I'm a fan of the purple, but the execution is spot-on. I can tell he put a lot of work into your appearance."

Bass brightened for a moment, then his face fell. "Sure, and then he went and put like twenty feet of luxurious blond hair on that stupid jerk Zero." It was here he stumbled onto the heart of the matter. "If he hadn't turned out to be a homicidal dirtbag, Zero would be Wily's favorite, hands down. The culmination of his life's work, his top robot. Now he's acting like nothing's changed, but we both know if things had been different, then I really _would_ be 'last year's model' and a Mega Man 'knock-off'."

Dr. Light didn't bat an eye. "It's normal to be a little jealous of your brother. Even Mega Man and Break Man have struggled with those feelings."

Momentarily distracted, Bass shook his head in disbelief. "Those two?" It was hard to imagine any sibling rivalry between them, regardless of how mild. Still, that hadn't been what he was talking about. "Whatever— you don't get it. My problem isn't with Zero… it's not like he asked for Wily to build him. My problem is that Wily's a two-timing rat."

"True, he was excited about Zero, but that was because of the novelty he presented. Even if things had been different, you and Wily have a history, and nothing— not even Zero— is ever going to take that away."

"You of all people should know that 'a history' doesn't mean jack to Wily."

"You'd be surprised." Then Dr. Light gave him a tender look. "What you need to understand is that _love_ is not a finite resource."

"Woah. Woah," Bass protested, a slight panicked note in his voice. "I didn't use that word. You used that word. Not me."

Dr. Light chuckled, but it was a good-natured, kind-hearted laugh. "It's a bottomless well," he continued. "The more love that a person gives, the more that they have to give."

"I hate to break it to you, but I'm pretty sure that Wily is physically incapable of… of… that emotion." Instantly Bass switched from flippant to bitter. "And don't kid yourself. Maybe you feel that way about both of them, but everyone knows that Mega Man is your 'number one son'."

Suddenly Dr. Light grasped Bass's jaw, one hand on each side of his face, gentle but firm. This time Bass was surprised when he let him. Dr. Light tilted the robot's head and met his gaze.

"I love both of my sons equally."

Bass was silent.

It was a risk, but he was already there, so Dr. Light went for the finisher.

"And you know that Wily loves you."

Eyes locked, neither dared move. Bass desperately wanted it to be true, and at the same time, he was both afraid it was and afraid it wasn't. He searched Dr. Light's face, trying to find any shred of doubt.

"Maybe," Bass said quietly.

Dr. Light let go of him, dropping one hand and moving the other to Bass's shoulder. Although Dr. Light knew that Bass couldn't feel it, he seemed to appreciate the gesture anyway.

"Indubitably. He won't shut up about you. I've heard so many stories these last few days, the time you were stuck in quicksand, the time you crashed his aircraft, when you tried to rescue an orphaned bird and how crushed you were when it died…"

Bass was so embarrassed that he brought a hand up to shield his face, even as he turned away to look out the window. With a broad smile Dr. Light tousled his hair, and Bass grumbled, ducking as he half-heartedly swatted him away.

Laughing as he stepped out of the room, Dr. Light couldn't help but add: "You know, I'd love to hear your version of those stories."

Rolling his eyes, Bass continued to gesture for him to shoo.

* * *

\- A/N: Teronians © Mandi Paugh

\- Mega Man's harrowing tales of being hacked = stuff that happened in Mandi's fics.

\- Wily's stories about Bass being a dork = stuff that happened in my fics.


	7. Scramble

**7: Scramble**

The brief respite came to an end when Break Man received a message on his wrist display. As he quietly read it, Bass seemed equally distracted, and a moment later turned to the red and gray robot.

"Did you get that?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Break Man said, then he filled in Mega Man. "Our 'friend' is on the move. He's attacked and killed several people at a sheet metal shop."

"_Why?_"

"We don't know anything yet."

"Repainting his armor," said Bass.

The others stared at him in shock.

"No way," Mega Man said.

"Yes way. Ask her, Break Man."

After a few minutes they had a reply.

"…yeah." Break Man's expression said everything. "Zero was using their powder coating equipment."

"Who… who takes lives over a paint job? What's _wrong_ with that guy?" Mega Man sagged. "I feel like I'm going to be sick, and honestly right now I wish I could be."

Break Man put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

It was a while before anyone said anything. Even Bass, who didn't hold human life to the same regard that Mega Man and Break Man did, was appalled.

"Since Wily couldn't track him," Mega Man said, "we'll have to draw him out. Zero said he'd come after anyone who left the lab. I'll do it, I'll be the bait."

"You're sister's right, he doesn't want you." Bass shook his head. "Even if he did… then what? You can't beat him. If it weren't for me, you guys would've been toast."

"We had him."

"No you didn't."

"It was a stalemate," Break Man said, which both seemed to find acceptable.

"So what's the plan?" Bass asked. "What could you possibly do different this time?

"I'll come up with something, I have to. Break Man is right, I can't fail this."

"Were you just phoning it in before?"

"No!"

"Then you're not going to do any better if you go after him now."

Mega Man glowered at Bass. "That's never stopped _you_."

Bass formed a cannon and fell into a defensive stance, and Break Man pointedly stepped between the two, his arms spread and hands up in a 'stop' gesture.

"Look, once we've resolved this situation with Zero, you guys can go back to your usual chest-pounding battle of the egos. Now is not the time."

"It's not—" Mega Man started. "'Battle of the egos', Break Man?"

Bass scoffed. "You're suggesting we have some kind of rivalry, but for that we'd have to be in the same class. Your consumer-grade little brother is so inferior that I'm just putting him in his place."

"Oh? How many times have you beat me in a fair fight, again?"

"I'll beat you _right now_ if you don't—"

"Shut up!" Roll burst into the room. "All of you! Zero's attacking the police at the metalwork shop!"

Mega Man shot a panicked look at Break Man and Bass. "Someone's got to stay here in case it's a trap to lure us away."

"It's a trap alright," Bass said.

"Ugh. Okay. Both of you stay here, and be prepared for Zero to drop in any moment."

"The forcefield's already down," said Roll. "Here's the coordinates."

* * *

There actually wasn't much work to do. Homicide had already covered the crime scene. Photos were taken, bodies were in the morgue, evidence was bagged. It'd taken two days before they realized the perp was a robot.

Officer Nedry was at the station reviewing security tapes, while Sergeant Jahveri and Officer Giertz investigated the metalwork shop for a first-hand look.

"Officer Kiwi!" Zero hadn't been there and then suddenly he was, smiling warmly and clasping his hands together. "From 'Auntie Giertz's School for Wayward Robots'? It's so nice to finally meet you!"

Instantly both Giertz and Jahveri had their blasters trained on him.

"Sergeant Jahveri," he continued. "What a pleasure! Hey, as a bit of an icebreaker, I've got a fun fact for ya. They say there's no snakes on the entire island of New Zealand, but did you know that's false? Because Giertz here is a two-timing, double crossing snake."

She was too stunned to even refute it, but Jahveri didn't care, he simply fired at Zero.

He whirled out of the way, and then he was swinging something and it took them a second to realize it was a sword, glowing and green and—

"Sorry Karen, that was so rude of me. I just got a little excited. Here, I'll fix it for you."

—he struck at Jahveri and—

—the blade cut into Break Man's shield, scarring it but unable to cut all the way through. Grabbing Jahveri, they both disappeared. Mega Man had arrived at the same time, and was too distracted by his brother to pay much attention to their enemy.

"Break, we decided— okay, fine. Good idea." With that out of the way, Mega Man squared up and faced Zero.

Then Break Man was back, hand on Giertz's shoulder. The world stretched and distorted and blurred. Her stomach churned and the next thing she knew she was on her knees retching, her whole body violently protesting the absolutely nauseating experience of teleportation. It made vertigo feel like a pleasant walk on a sunny day. No wonder people didn't use it for transportation.

Giertz looked up to see Jahveri, looking as bad as she felt, Bass and Roll standing off to the side. She stood uneasily. "Sarge, I…"

He glanced from her to Bass and back.

"Despite what you might've heard, I'm not as stupid as I look."

She blushed and said nothing. He'd known she was in cahoots with Bass and Break Man all along. Now that she thought about it… he might've even covered for her at some point.

"It was just these two," Break Man told Roll. "Please get the forcefield back up."

"Besides, you were never a very good liar, Giertz," Jahveri continued.

Bass had been staring at Giertz the whole time, growing increasingly enraged. Zero had been in his head, and knew who she was. He _knew_ Zero was antagonizing him… but it worked. Roll was headed into the other room, and before she reached the controls he and Treble disappeared, following after Mega Man.

Jahveri watched him teleport, then sighed. "You do realize that is a combat robot, and not an abandoned child or stray puppy, right?"

"Eh… it's really a little from column A, a little from columns B and C."

Break Man couldn't help himself. "I swear, Sergeant, we're working on getting him housebroken."

* * *

Giertz was increasingly uncomfortable watching Roll clean up, but she'd insisted that she was first and foremost a housekeeping robot. Break Man was impressed that Roll kept up the ruse, but truthfully, she didn't mind doing the work and she couldn't get squeamish.

"We're safe here," Break Man explained, once it became apparent that Zero wasn't following them. If it was a trap, it had been to lure them out, not to leave the lab undefended. He hoped Mega Man and Bass weren't in too much trouble. "I'm sorry it's going to be a little crowded, but Zero won't come after you—"

"Thank you for getting us out of there, Break Man," said Jahveri. "But we're not staying."

"I'm not sure you understand."

"Yes, I do. We're on that homicidal maniac's radar now, and you can't protect us out there."

"Okay, so you do understand."

Jahveri sighed, scratching the side of his neck. "I really don't want to seem ungrateful. The fact of the matter is… this Zero character… he's the reason our unit was formed. We knew something like this had to happen eventually. It's sooner than we thought, but… we have a job to do. I didn't take this assignment to fill out reports every time there's an industrial accident. I took it _for Zero_."

He looked pointedly at Giertz.

"Um, yeh. Well, personally, my major was robotics before I dropped out. So I signed up because it, ah, it was another shot at that." She grinned at Jahveri. "Sarge is right, though. Police have a duty to serve, and we may be the dork division, but at the end of the day we're still police."

"'Dork division'?" He chuckled. "Speak for yourself, officer." Then he turned back to Break Man. "If you think our families may be at risk, we can get them into protective custody until this is all over."

Break Man felt like that was woefully inadequate, and it was a mistake for them to leave, but he could tell that he wasn't going to win this one.

"Yeah, that's probably the least you can do."

Jahveri nodded, shook Break Man's hand, and glanced around. "Uh, how do we..?"

Roll popped back in from washing up.

"I'll show you out."

"Don't you want to wait for your ride?" Break Man asked.

"Honestly? I want to get out of here as quickly as possible, because I'm pretty sure the longer we stay the more we'll discover. As far as you all are concerned, I'd like to have maximum deniability."

Fair enough.

* * *

Roll returned to where Dr. Light and Dr. Wily had been working on X.

"They're gone, you can come out now."

Wily crawled out from under the work table and stiffly tried to get up, groaning as he did. It was especially difficult with the walking cast. Out of pure reflex, Dr. Light gave him a hand and helped pull him up off the floor.

"Worst hiding place ever," Roll said.

"It's not as if I had time to come up with a better option," Wily replied, irate. He started brushing off his lab coat. "It worked, didn't it?"

"Only because they never left the foyer. If they'd come through here, they'd have seen you."

"Hmph. Well, they didn't. Crisis averted."

Once they were outside, Jahveri called in a request for a squad car, and started heading up the driveway towards the road.

"Sergeant Jahveri," Giertz said as she fell into step beside him. "I… I wanted to say…"

He held up his hand, gesturing for silence. "Maximum deniability, Giertz. _Maximum deniability_."

* * *

Mega Man groaned when Bass materialized. "I told you to stay with Break Man and the others!"

"Like I'd ever listen to you."

Zero brightened. "Bass, you ol' jalopy! Glad you could join us."

"Ready for round two?" Bass didn't wait for an answer, he merged with Treble and charged into the fray. "Hey Zero, make sure you never do a system debug, there'd be nothing left!"

"Ha! You really have a gift for sick burns. Hey Mega Man, did you hear the one he said about Wily's Robot Masters? 'You rejects are all just a bunch of if-else statements!'" Zero laughed wildly as he ducked a charged blast from Mega Man and with his sword deflected another from Bass. "Oh man, that one just slays me."

The combined efforts of Mega Man and Bass were not as effective as Mega Man and Break Man. The brothers had worked together, reacting not only to Zero but to each other, helping one another as they went along. While _these_ two dorks were in eternal competition, overlapping their attacks, getting in the others way, or worse… sometimes even canceling out what they were doing. They weren't exactly fighting with each other, but it came close.

Zero noticed something else. This time and the last, Bass gave the Z-Sabre a wide berth. In fact, he avoided getting too close to Zero at all, and had only made an exception when pulling the stunt with his damaged cannon.

"Is my baby making you nervous? Understandable. Here— I'll do you a solid and put her away." He shut off the laser sword and popped it into the holster. "Unlike you, I won't cheat and bring it back out later… because unlike you, I don't need to cheat to win."

"I've _never_ cheated," Bass replied angrily.

Unable to help it, Mega Man burst out laughing. It was a preposterous lie.

The whole thing was a farce. They were off their game, not taking Zero seriously enough, and they weren't making any sort of progress. The slight edge gained from Treble Boost's flight mode was not enough to best Zero, and Bass wasn't using it to its full… if anything, it gave him a false sense of security. Frankly the only reason Zero hadn't whipped them was because he found their nonsense amusing. He'd had about enough. He had places to be, people to murder. Time to get down to business.

There was no color change to indicate Zero had switched weapons. All of a sudden he was no longer shooting plasma blasts, but instead some kind of orange beam.

It struck Mega Man and in that moment it was as if time stopped. The feeling was like his entire body was being crushed, and it slowly focused inward until it collected as an unbearable weight in his chest.

"I found some neat experimental stuff in Wily's junk drawer, before you guys totaled the place," said Zero. "What do you think?"

Mega Man was too deep in shock to respond.

"He's in another world," Bass commented.

"Yeah, a world of hurt! You're next." Then Zero fired at Bass, who barely avoided getting hit. "All aboard!"

"That is _so_ cheesy. Not even Wily spouts off such over the top—"

Once again the inability to shut up was his downfall. Distracted with chastising Zero, Bass failed to move fast enough, and the second shot nailed him dead center. He blinked in surprise. Nothing happened. Grinning, he went at Zero with renewed vigor.

"Huh, I guess it only works if you have a working nervous system." Zero shrugged. "Oh well. Treble! C'mere, boy!"

While Bass was taken by surprise when Treble disengaged, he managed to land gracefully on his feet. "Blast it!"

"Don't you mean 'doggone it'?" asked Zero, as the robotic dog approached. He reached over and scratched Treble under the chin. "Who's a good boy? Yes you are!" He gave Bass a knowing look. "See, even your dumb dog thinks you're an obsolete bucket of bolts."

"Shut! Up!" Thrown off by Zero's baiting, Bass missed the next few shots and took more hits than he normally would've. "I hate you SO _MUCH!_"

"Awww, but I luuuve you."

"_Auggghhhh!_" Bass came hurtling at Zero, crashing into him like a freight train. He was firing the whole time, but was at the point of rage where resorting to physically beating the other robot seemed like the only real move— it was a terrible idea, of course. He struck viciously and relentlessly, but Zero's armor took the impact and he seemed unfazed. "Can you _believe_ I was _almost_ looking forward to not being alone anymore!?"

"Would you stop hitting me?" Zero replied. "It's… it's not working. Not even a little. Frankly I'm getting second-hand embarrassment for you."

The brawl continued and soon moved out of Mega Man's line of sight. He lay there, feeling like a ten-ton weight was bearing down on his chest, and listened to the sound of battle. At one point, he could've sworn he heard Zero scream something along the lines of 'did you just bite me?'

Finally, Bass returned, moving stiffly and with a limp, which was honestly… pretty weird for a robot. He wordlessly reached down to grab Mega Man's wrist and hauled him to his feet, pinging Roll to tell her to drop the shield. Then he teleported them back to the lab. Bass moved to walk away and discovered that Mega Man still had a hand on his arm.

"You were never alone, you know."

Bass shot him point-blank in the face.

"I… I kinda set myself up for that," Mega Man said under his breath.

* * *

"What now?" After a cursory exam, Wily huffed. "How did you manage to get your hip out of alignment?"

He went to work, quietly grumbling to himself, and Bass looked mildly amused as he watched.

"I forgive you."

"Eh? For what?" Except Wily knew exactly what he was referring to. "I didn't ask for your forgiveness."

"Yeah and you don't deserve it, either. Too bad, you're getting it anyway."

"Hmph." After a few minutes, he relented. "I should've told you." It was more a matter-of-fact statement, not so much an apology as an admission he'd been wrong, which was the best Bass ever got out of Wily.

That seemed to be the end of it, but then Wily continued.

"You weren't _just_ a prototype. When I built you I wasn't even sure if I wanted to make something like Zero."

"I get it." Bass shrugged. "Kind of like how you're not just a kooky mad scientist, you're also a grody old man, and a complete louse. And a born loser. And a socially defunct weirdo."

"Are you quite done?"

"Oh, there's plenty more where that came from." Then Bass gave him a questioning look. "Dr. Light says robots need to be given a purpose, but a person makes their own."

"Hmm, well, he and I rarely see eye to eye, but I suppose he's right about that one."

"…and?" he prompted.

"And you're a robot and your purpose is to defeat Mega Man."

Bass scowled. "You're also a crusty hateful grouch, and a smelly jerk, and a mean-spirited curmudgeon, and—"

"Bad robots that can't do the job they were built to do end up in the scrapyard," Wily said, but there was a teasing edge to the warning. "It's a good thing you are _also_ a groundbreaking prototype and have exceeded expectations there."

It was so close to actual praise that Bass reeled in surprise. He didn't say anything after, but broke into a stupid grin, which he tried… and subsequently failed… to hide.

* * *

Roll studied X as Dr. Light worked on him. She glanced over at Dr. Wily at the nearest computer console, and then back at Dr. Light, before returning her focus onto the incomplete robot.

"Are you still going to call him 'X'?" she asked out of curiosity.

"Well, he technically _is_ 'X'."

"Or just a robot like him, inspired by him…"

He laughed. "You've got me there. Yes, I believe the name still fits."

"'X' like Xavier? It fits because you named this one after yourself," Wily said, rolling his eyes.

"No. In algebra, 'x' is a variable that represents limitless possibility, and the undiscovered, waiting to reveal its answers. Everything that he is."

Also, yes, after Xavier. Dr. Light was a humble man, but even he had his moments of vanity.

"It's too short."

"Mega Man X," Roll said. "'Cause he looks like Mega Man."

"Terrible. Ugh. Just… terrible. You're really bad at this, you know," said Wily.

"I don't recall asking for your opinion, Albert."

"You never do, Tom."

Roll raised an eyebrow and bit her lip. These two were back on a first-name basis? That hadn't taken long.

It was a strange dynamic. There was a lot of bad blood— many, _many_ years of bad blood— between them. At the same time, there was a common ground, and undeniable link, and what appeared to be a bond that surpassed love and hate. It was buried deep, often forgotten, but never broken. She questioned what exactly was the nature of their relationship… and decided that discretion was the better part of valor. In other words: sometimes it was better to keep your mouth shut.

"I don't see what the fuss is. You kept Zero's name."

"'Zero' is his number. Because he is a new… a new _species_. The beginning of his kind. The progenitor."

"And here I thought it was because he turned out to be a zero-day vulnerability," Dr. Light said, joking, in a rare moment of flippancy.

Roll laughed, hiding a goofy grin behind her hand. This was both weird and entertaining to watch.

"Oh 'ha ha'," said Wily.

"Dr. Light, X is still just a code name, right?" Roll asked, not yet satisfied. "Like 'Mega Man' for Rock, or 'Break Man' for Blues, or 'Nega Man' for Bass. What about his given name?"

Both scientists were instantly very, very uncomfortable, for completely different reasons.

"How did you know his name was Blues?" He'd never told anyone. Wily knew because he'd been there when Dr. Light built the robot, and naturally Break Man himself knew. Roll, on the other hand?

She grinned. "I was your walking filing system, remember? I still have all that in here." She tapped at the side of her head, although it was figurative.

"Ah, yes, of course."

In the meantime Wily looked as if he'd seen a ghost. "I didn't clean up that coding enough," he muttered to himself. "Don't ever call him that to his face," he told Roll, then shuddered. "Believe me, those are fighting words."

"…Blues…?" Dr. Light was confused, but then he mentally backtracked, and did a double take. "Wait… _Nega Man?_ You were going to call your robot Nega Man?"

Wily crossed his arms. "It's a perfect call sign. It means 'negative counterpart', which makes it a brilliant play on Mega Man's name."

"Oh my goodness." Dr. Light burst into laughter. "I take it Bass didn't think so."

"That's an understatement."

Still quietly chuckling, he turned back to Roll. "I was thinking for his given name, it should stick with our theme. 'Soul', perhaps. It's a nice bookend to Blues, and also fits in the sense that… he may not have a soul, but in a way—"

"It's terrible. That's a terrible name." Wily interrupted. "Continuing the music theme? 'Indie'. That or 'Jazz'."

"I like 'Indie'," said Roll. "'Jazz' sounds like a girl's name."

"It's gender neutral."

"It's _my robot_," Dr. Light said firmly, a tinge of irritation in his voice. "And _you_ do not have the high ground."

To be fair, neither of them did. Roll resisted saying as much.

"If I became a fighting robot, what would my code name be?"

Dr. Light's brows raised in surprise. "A fighting robot, hm?" He thought it over. Honestly, before the accident that gave Mega Man life, he and Roll had been equals. Dr. Light upgraded Rock the first time Dr. Wily went on a rampage, but it could've just as easily been Roll out there fighting for peace. "Perhaps… Giga Girl?"

"'Giga Girl'," she repeated, trying it out. "Not bad."

"Ugh," said Wily.

* * *

\- A/N: My new hobby: writing sick burns for robots.

\- A 'zero-day vulnerability' is when a software program has a problem that's newly discovered, and hasn't been fixed with a patch yet.

\- 'Nega Man' is not my idea. It's another fan's headcanon and when I read it (on tumblr maybe? I don't remember), it instantly became my headcanon as well. In my mind it's his terrible unused call sign in every single English iteration of Rock Man.


	8. Guerrilla Warfare

**8: Guerrilla Warfare**

When Mega Man walked into the room where Mega Man X lie, only to find Zero peering down at the new robot, he froze. There were about twenty different thoughts running through his mind all at once— how he should attack; that he needed to warn the others; how the _heck_ did Zero get past the security?

"I'm not here to start anything," Zero said. "I just wanted to see what hath I wrought."

"Uh," Mega Man replied awkwardly.

"You know what's funny about this? I… I have this destiny. I'd thought that meant… that I would be this revolution, right? I've been _dreaming_ about it. It's coming, and it's me." Zero focused intensely, never taking his eyes off of X. "Only it's not. It's him. I knew the moment I saw him. He's going to change everything for all of us."

With that, he glanced over at Mega Man, a strange and hollow look in his eyes.

Mega Man had no reply.

"Do you think…" Zero started, then hesitated. "If I disappeared, Dr. Light wouldn't power him up yet, would he? He'd wait. Maybe even… maybe even lock him away, in hopes that the future would be more prepared for this."

"I guess…?"

"Tell him for me. Tell him he has to wait. The world is not ready. I was wrong." He paused again, and when he spoke this time, it was rueful. "_Wily_ on the other hand… oh no, he's not going to let sleeping dogs lie. He'll build a copy, or steal this guy and reprogram him, or some other whacked-out cockamamie scheme."

"Yeah that sounds about right." It was one of the few things they could still really agree on: that Dr. Wily was the worst.

"Alright. Alright, look. Don't worry, I'll take care of it. It's off of your hands, now."

"Out. 'Out of your hands'. What are you even talking about?"

The only response he got was a heavy-hearted sigh. Then Zero blinked out, teleporting to who-knows-where.

* * *

There was no point in waking everyone up if Zero could just break through their security at any time. What were they going to do about it anyway? So he waited until the morning.

"Might as well shut down the forcefield," Mega Man announced. His tone was impossibly glum. "It's not keeping Zero out."

"Well that's disappointing," said Dr. Light. "I can't say I'm terribly surprised, though."

"What did he say?" asked Break Man.

"What makes you think he said anything?"

"Zero _always_ has something to run his mouth about."

Mega Man couldn't argue that. "He came to check out X. Then he said he was wrong, and it's X that's the future, and… I've got to say, Zero doesn't seem the most… balanced."

Bass sneered at him. "Do you _think?_"

"Oh my stars," said Roll. "You are so unbearably obnoxious."

At that point things kind of went off the rails. Bass stuck his tongue out at Roll, and she responded by blowing a raspberry, and then Dr. Light and Break Man were scolding them and everyone was talking over each other.

"—sort of childish behavior do—"

"—wasn't so _stupid_ I wouldn't need—"

"—there's a place and a time for—"

"—can't tell me what to—"

Mega Man groaned and hid his face in his hands. Then he looked up, and realized that the only other person not engaged in this chicanery was Dr. Wily, who was across the room, watching him instead of the commotion.

Somehow, he knew.

Strolling past the others, Mega Man headed towards Wily. "Zero's coming to kill you."

"Of course he is," Wily replied.

"You're taking it well."

"I suppose he'll either succeed or he won't. Either way, I know you'll try to stop him. You know, I expect you to die trying."

"Yeah… I'll get right on that…"

But Wily was probably right about that one.

* * *

Roll had flagged him down, then grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him out to the front yard.

"What's up?" Mega Man asked, once they were alone. It was ironic they had more privacy _outside_ than they did inside.

"Don't keep protecting Dr. Wily."

That was not what he'd been expecting. Mega Man did a double take. "Roll, I can't just—"

They weren't alone for long. Bass slipped out and leaned against the door jamb, arms crossed.

"This is a private conversation," Roll said.

Mega Man tried to cut off the inevitable bickering. "Bass, you're supposed to stay inside. What if someone sees you?"

"Does it even matter now?"

Roll glared at him for a second, but then decided she didn't care if he listened in. "You're going to get hurt, or possibly killed," she told Mega Man. "Aside from the fact that Wily's _evil_ and you don't owe him a thing… he's already doomed anyway."

"What?"

"You heard me reading off his stockpile of medication, right? Half that stuff is to manage Inafune Syndrome."

"_What?_"

He couldn't help but shoot a quick glance at Bass, whose expression revealed that he may not have known the specifics, but was aware that something was wrong.

"Honestly, I'm surprised Dr. Light hasn't developed it too, considering all the stuff he's been exposed to over the years," Roll continued. "Let Zero take Wily. He's already a dead man walking. Ethics aside, there's no point in you sacrificing yourself for him."

After a few false starts, opening and shutting his mouth without a sound, Mega Man punched one fist into the other hand. He didn't know what to think.

"We can't let Zero kill him," said Bass quietly, eyes fixed on Mega Man.

He met his gaze, and realized that this wasn't just something Bass was willing to fight for, but something he was willing to die for. Or… whatever the equivalent was. Mega Man felt his competitive streak flair up. Roll had some very good points, and from a practical standpoint, she was right. But how could he just lie down and surrender, how could he _let_ Zero win? Allow Zero to kill?

Let Bass show him up?

"Sorry Roll. What kind of hero would I be if I threw in the towel now?"

* * *

Dr. Light was explaining how the signal blocker would automatically shut off the moment Mega Man used his com unit. "That way, you won't have to waste any time before sending a call for backup, should you need it."

Which was silly, because they all knew he was going to need it.

How he'd allowed himself to be talked into going with Wily, he didn't know. For once he and Bass were on the same page.

"I should go with you, not this blue twerp."

"I've already told you." Wily huffed and tried not to snap. "Even without the signal blocker, Zero can't track Mega Man the way he can track you."

"Right, because of our network. Fine, I cut off the network connection in addition to my GPS. Problem solved."

"Then he'll just use your com—"

"So I'll cut off the com, too."

Wily didn't say anything and it was painfully obvious that still wasn't a solution.

"_What else?_ What else is there?"

"I build a transport signature into all my robot's teleporters…"

Bass clenched his fists and looked like he was ready to punch something. "Wily, you syntax error! Aren't you supposed to be some kind of genius? What would make you go and do something that stupid— never mind. I give up." He waved dismissively at Mega Man. "Get him out of here."

Mega Man reached out for the mad scientist, but Wily shrugged him off.

"Wait," said Wily. "I… good luck, Bass."

Bass hesitated. "…Right. Good luck to you, too."

Break Man groaned and slapped his forehead. "Oh for crying out loud… just say it. _Say_. _It_. Here, I'll even start for you: 'You've become a son to me, and I lllooo…'" He swept his hand out towards Wily.

He raised his eyebrows and ignored Break Man, turning his attention back to Bass. "You've been nothing but a disappointment. But it could be worse." He clapped his hand on the robot's shoulder. "You could've been Mega Man."

"Eww."

* * *

In many ways the waiting was worse.

For a long time they didn't speak, because what was there to say?

Which is why Mega Man was so surprised when Dr. Wily started opening up to him.

He was weary in a way Mega Man had never seen him before, almost as if he'd accepted his fate. Wily was out of tricks, he'd had a good run (though not really). It was all over but the shouting.

"I didn't really understand." It sounded more like a confession than conversation.

"Sorry?"

"Logically I knew what it meant that you were alive, but I didn't _understand_." Wily shook his head. "Even with Bass, who I programmed myself… I still didn't get it. It took almost three years, did you know that?"

"Three years for what?"

He laughed bitterly. "What indeed. I'll tell you 'what'. I treated that robot the same as any Robot Master or simple Joe. You wouldn't know it the way he bucks against my orders, but he can't refuse maintenance or upgrades." Wily snorted. "And make no mistake, back then they were _all_ compulsory. Standard procedure, I never asked. Then a year, year and a half in, the monitoring report started showing some unusual activity with— well. Bass will never admit this, but I could tell it was the equivalent of what we humans call an anxiety attack. Do you know what I did after that?"

Mega Man had a pretty good idea, but he just shook his head 'no'.

"I continued 'standard procedure' for another year anyway. I knew… but I still didn't understand."

He had nothing to say to that. A part of him didn't want to hear any of this. Not Wily's remorse, not just how unhealthy his relationship with Bass had once been.

After a truly uncomfortable pause, Wily finally got to the point. "I still hate you, and always will. I hate the very _idea_ of you. If given the opportunity, I'd kill you without hesitation or regret." He inhaled deeply. "But knowing the things I do now… understanding them… I would not have done some of the things I did."

Which was the closest thing to an earnest apology that anyone would ever get from Dr. Albert Wily.

* * *

The instant Zero arrived, Mega Man alerted Break Man to their location and dove into action. The next few seconds were a blur as he tried his best to fend off Zero. Then Break Man and Bass were there, and for one glorious moment it seemed like they had a fighting chance.

Then Zero stepped up his game, and the moment was lost.

With Thunder Beam equipped, Mega Man was able to land the first hit, feeling a slight rush when Zero grunted in pain. Afterwards Zero ducked and wove, avoiding Bass's rapid-fire shots. With inhuman grace he leapt into the air, twisting around as Break Man's Triple Blade shot went gliding past him, both above and beneath.

Another blast of electricity tore through the atmosphere, and Mega Man realized that Zero had lured the others to where they'd take a collateral hit. While he managed to nail Zero again, and Break Man was able to deflect most of it with his shield, Bass was caught full on and stumbled, momentarily stunned.

"Yikes! Watch what you're doing!"

If _that_ was bad, Mega Man and Break Man would come to regret letting Bass take Napalm Bomb, which he used without regard for property, environment, or— for that matter— his allies.

"Oh my word," said Zero, pausing a second to place his hand on his chest. "How cute is that? They look like giant peanuts!" With a precision strike he managed to kick one without setting it off. "Hope you're not allergic!"

Mega Man cried out when the small explosive hit his side and sent him sprawling to the ground.

"Switch to something else," Break Man ordered. Bass glared and grumbled but changed to Jewel Satellite, still in his feelings about getting zapped earlier.

They were briefly in a deadlock, spending the next few minutes trying to break it and finally best Zero, but he was always a step ahead of them. Mega Man gave Remote Mine a spin, only to switch back to Thunder Beam, successfully tagging Zero a couple more times. The wide spread of the attack inevitably hit Bass a second time, and although Jewel Satellite worked like a charm, he failed to redeploy it. He was never really one for defensive weapons.

With a daring swish of his laser sword, Zero cut through the Triple Blade's projectiles— a move that was equally infuriating and _ridiculously awesome_. He then slipped past Break Man and worked his way behind Bass, slashing him open. A clear liquid splattered across Zero's armor and the ground.

"Coolant?" Mega Man asked.

Too late Break Man fired off Black Hole Bomb. If he'd been able to switch weapons in time, he might've stopped Zero… instead, it swallowed up Mega Man and Bass's plasma shots.

"Hee!" Zero danced away, dodging another charged plasma blast from Mega Man. "Sure is. Bro, you got what, four or five minutes to shut down?"

Bass growled and spun, firing a volley of shots that were mostly deflected with the Z-Sabre.

"The harder you keep going, the faster you'll overheat…"

This did not discourage Bass at all. He switched back to the Napalm Bombs and aggressively kept going at Zero. If anything he was more intense. As predicted, shortly after the two minute mark he keeled over.

With it down to Mega Man and Break Man, Zero quickly subdued them. He ran Break Man through with the sword, collapsing a lung, the injury grievous but not fatal. Break Man pushed past the pain and kept fighting, but he was too badly hurt to be effective. The best he could do was try and distract Zero to give Mega Man a chance. Unfortunately, Zero simply ignored him, taking the plasma shots like they were nothing, and expertly evading the Thunder Beam.

He casually made his way towards Mega Man.

This time Break Man hit him early enough with Black Hole Bomb, pulling Zero away. Using that momentum, Zero broke into a charge and slammed into Break Man, throwing him to the ground and kicking his shield away. While Break Man scrambled to his feet and recalled his shield, Zero had already backtracked.

"I don't suppose I can talk you into surrendering."

"Nope."

"Well, it was worth a shot. Sorry about this."

Mega Man expected a killing blow. Instead, Zero cut him down just above the knees.

The pain was immense, and he screamed as he fell. This might not have been as devastating to the bioroid as it would've been to a human, but that didn't make it any less excruciating— it was just easier to fix.

"Keep shooting and you'll lose the arms, too." Zero then pointed his sword at Break Man. "That goes double for you. It's over. Give it a rest."

Grinning, Zero turned to Wily, who'd stood by silently watching the clash, staunchly awaiting his fate. He made no attempt to escape, which Zero felt simply wasn't exciting enough.

"_Run_." He ordered. When Wily refused to budge, Zero scowled and stopped. "Oh come on, old man. Don't just stand there and nobly accept what you've got coming. That ain't your style! Here, I'll give you a head start to the count of one hundred."

Wily hesitated for a second, then turned and bolted.

"One, two, skip a few, ninety-nine, a hundred."

He got one step when Bass barreled past, knocking over the very surprised Zero. He grabbed Wily and kept moving, doing his best to shield the doctor from Zero's frantic shots as he doubled back towards Mega Man. The second he touched the blue robot, Bass teleported.

"You're _toast_, ru—!" Zero screamed after them as they phased out.

They were in a completely random location, one Mega Man didn't recognize.

"He'll track my transport signature," Bass said to Mega Man.

"Stop," said Wily.

Bass responded by teleporting again.

"Next jump we part ways."

"_Stop_. That is an _or_—"

Suddenly they were someplace else.

"—_der_."

Bass let go of Mega Man and unceremoniously dropped Wily on top of him. "You know what to do."

Then he was gone. He could only make a few more jumps before he would overheat and shut down, but Bass was determined to lead Zero on a wild goose chase, buying as much time for Mega Man and Wily as possible.

Wily had a strange, miserable look in his eyes as he unsteadily clambered to his feet. "Call Zero."

"What?"

"Do it, before I change my mind."

Mega Man sent a request on his com, flinching when he heard Zero's voice on the other line.

"You guys are _such_ party poopers, you know that?"

"Can you track this call?" Wily asked.

"I'm tracing it now, you hack. Is Bass still with you? 'Cause I'm about to find out how well he functions without 38% of his computer system! …Shoot, that didn't sound as menacing as I thought. Let's try again: 'Cause I'm about to find out how well he can function without a head! Yeah, second one was better. Point is, I'm taking it as a trophy."

"Geeze," said Mega Man as he awkwardly sat up. He glanced at Wily, who ignored him.

His attempted apology to Mega Man had been symptomatic of a larger paradigm shift. Throughout all of this, Wily felt that Zero was trying to kill him because _Zero was a monster_. While that was true, when the situation became hopeless, he came to a deeper realization. Zero was a monster… but he wanted to kill Wily because _Dr. Wily himself was a monster_. Along with it had come some startling regret for the more loathsome things he'd done in the past.

Now, he realized two things. One: that Zero wouldn't stop until Wily was dead. Two: that Mega Man and Bass wouldn't stop until they were dead. Wily'd seen the look on Zero's face when Bass had duped him, and knew if Zero got his hands on the other robot, that was it.

It was funny how—

Then Zero was there. He grabbed Wily's arm, yanking him away from Mega Man, and then let go just long enough to do an impressive, flashy spin-kick to Mega Man's head, knocking him out.

* * *

Dr. Wily was surprised when Zero didn't throw or shove him— instead he stood there, quietly studying him.

"Why'd you up and surrender, you old fart?"

"I'm tired. I'm tired of this, you're wasting my time. I've had enough. Just get it over with already."

Zero pursed his lips, easily seeing through the heap of baloney that Wily spewed. "Aren't you afraid?" He was trying to provoke a reaction. "You're about to die by the work of your own hand, your most hated—"

It worked. Wily let out a dark, humorless laugh.

"_Hate_ you? How can I? You're magnificent." The look in his eyes was evil, delighted and proud. "A ruthless, efficient killer. An unstoppable force of destruction. The red rider of war, raining down death upon the earth." Unable to help it, Wily broke into a maniacal grin. "Maybe this hasn't worked out the way I planned, but you… _you_ are everything I wanted. You are my legacy."

At that point Zero let go of him, forcefully enough that Wily stumbled back a little. "And yet your enemies triumph."

Wily was still wearing a broad smile.

"I won't lie, of course I want your obedience, to crush you under my heel, and force you to destroy Mega Man… even if I wasn't around to see it. You could destroy all of them easily, if you wanted. The problem isn't one of ability, it's one of… differing philosophies." He chuckled. "Unlike your prototype, who fails because he's afraid to succeed. Can you _imagine?_ Sabotaging yourself because you're scared to beat the game?"

There was a pregnant pause. Zero was thinking something over, weighing his options, coming to a monumentous decision. They were at a crucial juncture, and whatever the conclusion, Wily could tell it was a matter of life-or-death for him.

There were no jokes, no witty remarks or snarky comments. Zero was deadly serious.

"I was going to kill you. But I need someone to see me through. I don't belong in this future— that other robot's future— and I'm going to format my drives. I need you to do a hard reboot afterwards."

"I'd rather die than to destroy my magnum opus."

The red robot startled. Wily was telling the truth.

"That can be arranged," he warned. Then he smirked. "Don't be such a wet blanket. If you do it, I'll be gone, but who knows? Maybe whoever takes my place will be eager for Pops' approval, just like his big brother."

Wily nodded curtly. "Fine." He glanced around at the abandoned fortress— this one wasn't destroyed but had never been completed, deserted when he was caught and imprisoned before executing that particular evil plot. "Here?"

"I've already got the equipment set up and energy supply running." Then he gave Wily an odd look. "How much time do you have?"

Wily snorted in derision.

"They gave me eighteen months. That was over three years ago." He laughed darkly. "My hatred keeps me going. My rivalry with Xavier is my motivation for living." When Zero didn't reply, he continued. "Low dose exposure from years of working with unstable warps and improper handling of power stones."

More likely it was that unearthly 'dark energy' that had come with the alien robot Duo.

Rather abruptly, Zero reached out, placing his hands on either side of Wily's head. It almost seemed like a kind touch— comforting or affectionate— except then he began to apply pressure. His grip firm and deliberate, he squeezed until Wily's ears rang and his teeth ached and his pulse thundered in his head.

"Why did you call me and surrender? Say it."

Wily glared. He was silent, but Zero continued to bear down until Wily let out a stifled cry, certain that the robot would crush his skull.

"I— I had to get you away from my idiot son—" he blurted out.

Instantly the pressure vanished. Zero took a half step back and looked him over, appraising him once more.

"Maybe I misread you, Wily."

Rubbing his temples— as if that would help ease the terrible headache Zero'd just given him— Wily heaved a sigh. "No, you read me spot-on. I've just gotten sentimental in my old age."

* * *

\- A/N: He did it, guys. 56K words into this series, Wily actually called Bass his son.


	9. war is necessary, war brings peace

**9: war is necessary, war brings peace**

"_Ibis redibis nunquam per bella peribis_."

* * *

"Morning, sunshine." Break Man was kneeling over Mega Man and shaking him. "Let's go home." With that, his brother transported both of them back to Light's lab.

Roll was at work repairing Bass under Dr. Light's guidance. He gestured as she spliced together some tubing. "—how it differs from Mega Man's or Break Man's. Very typical Wily configuration there. Yours is similar but uses a…" he drifted off as he saw Mega Man. Then he patted Roll on the shoulder. "If you'll excuse me, I need to tend to your brother. You're doing great, Roll. I trust you to finish up on your own."

"No problem," she replied.

Without a word, Dr. Light went to work, reattaching Mega Man's legs.

For a moment Mega Man looked panicked. "Wait, Break Man—"

Break Man playfully jabbed at his side. "Already taken care of." Sure enough, there was a haphazard patch across his chest. "It's sloppy, but it'll do for now." Then he shook his head. "It's a good thing you can't bleed to death, little bro."

"Or suffer long term concussion effects," added Roll.

Mega Man just nodded.

He was still being repaired when Roll finished up with Bass, who frantically looked around once he'd booted up. Seeing that Dr. Wily wasn't there, he glared at Mega Man with a deep and immeasurable hatred. It looked like he was about to say something. Instead, he got up to leave.

"Wily called him," Mega Man said. Bass didn't acknowledge it. "Wily called him to keep him away from you." Honestly, he could hardly believe it himself, and he'd been there. Break Man placed his hand on Mega Man's back for a moment, before following after Bass.

* * *

Both Break Man and Bass came up empty handed, which surprised Mega Man a little bit. Break Man was an expert at tracking, but Zero turned out to be better at hiding. Or— maybe Break Man hadn't tried that hard. He had the feeling he wasn't going to get an answer.

Surprisingly, Bass returned to the lab so that Roll could finish patching up some peripheral hardware, then went his own way. Less surprising was the fact that Break Man finally took off. Having him around day-to-day had been nice while it lasted, but in the end it was just too good to be true.

Dr. Light busied himself with X's finishing touches— just in case Zero changed his mind.

* * *

Like many of the demolished fortresses, this one had been looted for anything that could be salvaged, but no one ever found _all_ of Wily's caches. He had stores of food, potable water, clothes, toothpaste and soap… along with power generators and energy tanks and encrypted data backups.

Zero had everything set up already, and it definitely was more than a few days worth of work laid out. The best that Wily could figure, Zero had been working on this since… since being activated and taking him and Bass hostage in the then-current fortress.

There was no way he could've seen how things ultimately turned out. Which meant this had to have been one of many, many back up plans. "What was this, plan C?" he asked. "Or more like… plan K or L?"

Zero grinned at him. "Oh, I don't use letters. No way I was limiting myself to twenty-six options."

* * *

Much to Dr. Wily's chagrin, the hard-reboot wasn't just a success: Zero had managed to purge every last trace of his personality, along with everything else that made him who he was. After all was said and done, Wily was left with what was essentially an _entirely new person_. This new Zero was— in Wily's not so humble opinion— weak. Which was to say… he had a conscience.

Getting his cooperation turned out to be just as impossible. This new Zero also refused to go after Mega Man and the others, but not to spite Wily, or because he prioritize machines over human life, or because he secretly l̶i̶k̶e̶d̶ respected them. No… he refused because it was morally objectionable.

Wily was disgusted. Few things turned his stomach like _moral fortitude_.

At the same time, another hard-reboot could bring a Zero more like the first one, which was a risk he couldn't afford to take. He doubted he'd survive that a second time. Besides, he wasn't sure how much of that sort of thing Zero's system could take before it was permanently damaged.

So Wily tried a relentless barrage of other things: forced programmed commands (caused unresolvable conflict in his software), torture (didn't take), manipulation and deceit (somehow he always saw through Wily's ruse), more torture (still didn't take).

In the end he'd wiped the new Zero's memory database so many times it _was_ having writing errors, and he finally gave up.

It left him contemplating the future. He'd helped Dr. Light finish up X, and knew that sooner or later that the second-generation blue pest would revolutionize robotics— something which was rightfully Wily's legacy, not Dr. Light's.

And he was running out of ideas.

Running out of options.

Running out of time.

Ultimately he decided that if he couldn't beat Light's creations, he could at least sabotage them. It took some effort to get a working copy of the poorly named 'roboenza' virus, but it was well worth the trouble.

The virus he crafted this time was downright horrific. Ten times more potent, more readily contagious, and without a cure.

He gave Zero one last shot.

And then abandoned him in the basement of a half-finished deserted fortress.

* * *

The one thing the fort didn't have was his medication.

The moment Zero formatted his drives, Wily could've called Bass, or even Dr. Light. He could've whipped up a few basic robot minions and sent them to rob a pharmacy. He could've turned himself back over to law enforcement.

In the end, he did none of those things.

Wily found himself at the empty eye socket of the incomplete skull. Normally it would've been walled in.

Ever since the stroke, Wily had been experimenting with ways to digitally copy his mind. He'd chickened out and never done it, but the research was there and the theory was sound. Turning himself into software was less than appealing, because humans were more than just their brain's 'programming'. Hormones alone were a huge part of the experience. The end result wouldn't _really_ be Dr. Wily, it would be a snapshot of who he was, a collection of memories, and a pale imitation that acted and sounded like him. Still, it was the closest any human being could get to immortality.

After three weeks trying to crush Zero under his heel, he had a persistent pain in his side that was his failing kidneys, having gone too long without treatment to continue functioning.

He was tired all the time, and his hands wouldn't stop trembling, and he couldn't keep any food down.

It wouldn't be long.

He looked out at the encroaching forest, the untamed vines and brush that fought to reclaim the skeletal framework of the building. Wily had fought so hard for so long, and in the end, he lost.

* * *

It was little surprise that Sergeant Jahveri was at their front door. They'd expected the police to return at some point for their investigation. What surprised Roll was that he wasn't there on official business. He'd come with a delivery and a message. It was Zero's sword.

"He asked us to wait one month and then give this to you, Roll. He said you'd know where to meet him."

Roll turned the Z-Sabre's handle over in her hand, lost in thought.

Jahveri was unusually shaken. "…he gave that to my daughter."

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine. Zero didn't attack anyone." He looked away. "They were in hiding. He did it to let us know that we can't escape him no matter how hard we try."

Inside, she sat down in the rec room, carefully weighing her options. Mega Man stopped as he walked past and caught sight of Roll's pensive expression. "Hey, what's up?"

She held up the Z-Sabre.

"What the heck!?" Mega Man slapped his forehead. "Where'd you get that?"

"Sergeant Jahveri dropped it off, after Zero delivered it to his kid." She hesitated. "He wants me to go to him."

"No way. No way I'm going to let him—"

Roll looked back down at the Z-Sabre. "This is a peace offering."

He wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"I'm going with you, at least."

After thinking it over for a little longer, she shook her head. "No. This is for me."

* * *

She knew exactly where Zero wanted her to go.

Wily was right— he'd failed to adequately scrub the code he'd copied off Bass. Roll had a little more insight than she should've; had occasional glimpses of what were private thoughts and feelings. One time when Dr. Light and Dr. Wily were bickering, she'd felt this gnawing pain in the back of her mind, a desperate yearning for Wily's approval. That alien sensation had proverbially made her skin crawl.

But memories were not part of the package. So the one that was there— a transplant— stood out like a sore thumb. It was the memory of a conversation that took place a few years ago, Dr. Wily and Bass chatting about some new fortress layout. As they reviewed the partially drawn-up blueprints on the screen, Bass had put his hand on Wily's shoulder, and Roll could tell this was a pretty significant moment for the both of them.

It was also a fortress layout she had no record of, one she knew that Mega Man had never been to. Which meant either it was a backup location they never discovered, or for some reason Wily hadn't used. Lucky for her, he'd included the planned coordinates on the blueprints.

Zero said for Jahveri to wait a month before giving her the sword.

She made a determination, and went rifling through Dr. Wily's effects. Among the second-hand clothes they'd gotten for him was a zippered pouch. She bounced it in her hands, listening to the pills rattling around, and then went to the bathroom.

One by one she opened each bottle and dumped them down the toilet.

* * *

Roll was at the half-finished Skull Fort for a while before she pinged Bass. She checked on Dr. Wily, examined Zero, and reviewed the history reports from the still-running computers. She was hard at work when the black and gold robot arrived. Wordlessly he went over to Wily, kneeling down beside him before tentatively reaching out and placing a hand on Wily's head.

After a minute, he gathered the old man up into his arms. Wily was unresponsive, his breathing labored and sporadic, an unsavory gurgling in the back of his throat.

"Do you believe in destiny?" Roll asked.

"Heck no."

"Me neither."

After a few minutes, he shot her a quick questioning glance. "What are you doing?"

She tapped her chin in thought before responding.

"I'm reviewing what was done to Zero."

"You know, there's nothing stopping you from just shoving that stupid sword straight into his central processor. That option's on the table. Just putting it out there."

"His drives were completely formatted—"

"Dang." Bass looked up and made a face. "I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Not even Zero, my worst enemy."

Roll chuckled dryly. "Well, it looks like… I mean, he seems to have _let_ Wily do it… I think it's what he wanted. But after that, Wily was trying to force him to, you know, go out and kill Mega Man." She paused. "His memory has been tampered with a lot, there's some corruption in his data drives."

Then she turned and approached Bass, studying Wily as he progressed through his death throes.

"He put an extremely potent computer virus in Zero's system."

"Maybe you should've started with that? Are we in danger?"

"Don't be stupid." Roll shook her head in disgust. "It's for robots like X and Zero. We're not advanced enough to contract it."

Bass was silent. Lifting it to his face, he pressed the back of Wily's hand against his cheek.

"I'm going to try to delete it, but I'm not sure if I can without causing more damage. It might make more sense to do another format and reload his software fresh."

"It's Zero, who cares if you scramble his circuits a little?" Then he raised an eyebrow, very briefly taking his gaze off of Wily. "I thought you were learning mechanical engineering, not coding?"

"That's right. I'm kind of jumping in feet first here."

"Well, on the bright side, if you goof it's no big loss…"

She gently shoved him, then went back to the terminal.

As a hush fell over the room, Bass spoke quietly to Wily. "Don't leave," he pleaded, knowing it was too late and that Wily couldn't hear him.

Two and a half hours later, Dr. Wily's life slipped away, quietly and unremarkably.

Outside it was a beautiful day. The sun shone bright amid absolutely perfect cottony white clouds, scattered across a baby blue sky. The weather was balmy and not too humid, a gentle breeze rippling through the trees. Birds chirped a pleasant melody. A doe and her fawn grazed leisurely along the foundation, the grass there lush and overgrown.

It was unfairly anti-climactic.

"Are you okay?" Roll asked.

"I'm fine," Bass replied. "It's weird. I don't feel anything."

"Maybe you can't experience grief yet. That would be convenient."

"I guess… but I should still be angry, or upset, or something. There's just a whole lot of nothing."

"Hmm."

After a few minutes he asked, "Are you done yet?"

"With the virus, yeah." Since it was obvious she was still working, she went ahead and told him what she was up to. "Right now I'm giving Pinocchio his Jiminy Cricket."

Bass had no idea what she was talking about.

"You know, the puppet..?" She asked, but he clearly didn't. "I'm giving the new Zero a moral compass."

He scowled. "Taking away his free-will."

Why that bothered him so much, she didn't know— no, that wasn't true. Roll knew exactly why Bass disliked the idea of curbing _anyone's_ agency, even Zero's.

"_No_. I can't program him a conscience… what I'm giving him is a suggestion. It's up to him to decide to listen to it or not. Honestly I'm not even sure he needs it— Wily couldn't get him to destroy a mock-up of Mega Man… he refused to kill someone who couldn't fight back."

"That doesn't prove anything."

Roll looked over her shoulder at him. "Perhaps not… well, then just call it a hunch." She smirked. "I'm also burying this other stuff, like the knowledge about his creator. It'll still be there, but it'll be repressed."

"Haunting his dreams." Bass seemed to approve of that.

Among other things, she'd also found the digitized backup of Wily's mind— what parts of it could be translated. Roll kept that to herself, but she didn't delete it, tempting as it was. With a little more digging, she found the specs for that equipment, as well as the program he'd written for it, and downloaded those. If _Wily_ was going to copy himself like that, it was only fair _Dr. Light_ did too.

"I'm going to delete my memory of this," she said as she wrapped up, and gave Bass a knowing look. "Let Zero be discovered as history intends him to… minus one murder virus. If you come back to Dr. Light's lab, I can fix yours too."

The unspoken offer was to alter his programming as well. She knew he couldn't openly agree to any reprogramming, much less ask for it. He thought about it for a moment, then glanced down at Wily, still in his arms.

"…maybe later. I've got some other stuff to take care of first."

Roll nodded, then went to hand him the Z-Sabre.

"Zero gave that to you. Keep it."

* * *

More than anything, Mega Man was relieved.

A small part of him felt guilty for that, but damned if it wasn't true.

Maybe he should've felt a little sad. Dr. Wily _was_ actually trying there at the end. Ultimately, an attempt at decency simply couldn't wash away a lifetime of evil— and to Mega Man, Wily was the embodiment of it.

For Dr. Light, it wasn't so straight forward.

On an intellectual level, Break Man felt it was a shame that Wily'd had so much potential and that his life had been such a waste… on an emotional level, though? He was secretly happy. Not just because Wily had been a thorn in their side and a threat to public safety for so long. Because of what it meant for Mega Man and Dr. Light, and in the long run, Bass.

For now Bass just felt empty, this gaping abyss that had been everything else. Later, both Break Man and Giertz would reassure him that was perfectly normal. He was still unsure if he could feel grief… until the shock finally wore off.

Rather than returning to Dr. Light's lab, he took Wily and headed out to the mountains. One of the few places that _hadn't_ been the site of a Skull Fortress— Wily used to say that once he ruled the world, he'd build his citadel there, and didn't want to spoil it with a temporary fort. Mega Man and Break Man had picked up the human squeamishness of dead bodies, and for humans it made sense: corpses were a source of germs and diseases. Bass had no such compunction. It took nine days before Break Man was able to convince him to stop carrying around Wily and let them take the remains to the coroner. Bass disappeared after that.

Ironically, it was Zero's attack on the police that spared Mega Man and his family a lot of legal trouble. In fact, he'd expected more questioning and hassle than he got… but there were two eyewitnesses that had seen Zero in action. From the Robot Crime division no less. The fact that Jahveri had nearly been killed, and that Break Man had saved him, well… that didn't hurt their case either.

Even more interesting was that they seemed to understand the greater implications at play. Dr. Wily's passing was announced on the netnews as the result of his illness, with no mention of his revolutionary final creation. The deaths of the prison guards and poor luckless body shop workers were reported as accidents— more of those sad robot death statistics that Zero had wanted to break free from.

* * *

Dr. Light stood over X, silent and somber.

"You miss him," said Roll.

He made a small sound that was almost— but not quite— a laugh. "I'd say that you've got Break Man's power of observation, but truthfully, you share none of his programming."

"Well, that may be the case… My AI is still growing and learning. It's got to pick these things up from _somewhere_. I probably did get it from him, just in a much more… roundabout way."

Dr. Light nodded. Then he swept his hand out towards X. "All that work, and we didn't even power him up."

Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, Roll contemplated her response. "You know what the hilarious thing about that is? X did _exactly_ what we meant for him to do. He beat Zero. He did what none of us could, without ever even knowing any of it happened."

"Hmmm. I think you may have a point there." He was quiet for a second. "Yes, Roll. I— I'm past the point of mourning for Albert, but on some level… yes, I do miss him. Or maybe it's who he _used_ to be that I really miss. These last few weeks…"

Dr. Light fell silent and it was clear he wasn't going to finish that particular thought.

"What are you going to do with X?"

"I was thinking about running some simulations. I can't program him a conscience, not without giving him boundaries… and that just defeats the point, doesn't it?" He smiled, clueless that Roll had faced the same dilemma with Zero. "I think I can use VR to condition one. It would also give me a chance to test his mettle, so to speak."

Roll grinned back at him. "Sounds like a plan, Dr. Light."


	10. Epilogue: Oma (Part 2)

**Epilogue: Oma (Part 2)**

In the end, Ingrid Wily outlived all of her children.

It was a few weeks after the news came, and unlike all of the previous false alarms, this time there was a body. Dr. Albert Wily was dead.

When the caretaker wheeled Ingrid into her room, Bass was there waiting, as dressed-down as he could get and perusing the digital picture displays scattered across her dresser.

"Oh," the aid said. "That's your grand-bot, right?" She seemed pleased with the quip, and not at all alarmed by his presence. Bass was getting a touch annoyed by the lack of fear, or at least surprise, at his presence. There used to be a time when people saw him and fled. Didn't these morons know he was dangerous?

"That's 'mind your own business', stupid cow," Ingrid muttered, then turned her attention to Bass. "Too bad, you just missed supper."

"I don't eat," Bass replied. "Also, _what?_ It's only five o'clock."

"This is an old folks' home. What do you expect?" She waved for the aide to leave. "Beat it."

Bass looked at the displays and then back at her. "It's weird you put my picture up."

"It's not that weird."

"…Do you want a better one?"

"No, I like this one. You look devilish in it. I think it suits you."

Sure enough, with Treble Boost equipped he was especially menacing, and the look _did_ suit him.

"Dr. Wily is dead," he said abruptly.

"So I heard."

Ingrid was the first person he'd seen since Break Man had convinced him to turn over the body. Somehow, she knew.

"I realize you two didn't get on very well, but he was your son, and I thought…"

He drifted off, and for a minute there was an uneasy silence.

"I've buried my parents, my husband, and two children— the two good ones— already. I can't say I'm relieved, but I can't say that I'm grieved, either."

"Oh."

"Come over here." She gestured for him to sit next to her, and Bass got down on the floor, drawing his knees up against his chest. Ingrid stroked his hair, and even though he couldn't actually feel it, the act itself was still strangely comforting. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you've lost someone you love."

For a while neither of them said anything.

"How come you never changed your last name?"

She chuckled softly. "It was Frederick's name long before Bertie tainted it, and I wasn't going to give that up."

"…I miss him."

"I know."

"And. I never told him. You know, how I felt. I didn't say it. He never said anything to me either, so I guess we're even."

"Bertie always had trouble expressing himself. Frederick and I can take the blame for that. We weren't very good parents to him— to any of them," she admitted. "I wasn't much of a mother. I wonder if I had done right by him, if… if things might've turned out differently."

Bass rested his forehead against his knees. "I think I'm the only person in the world who's mourning for that old coot."

"Perhaps." Ingrid paused. "It's okay, you know. He was a bad man, but he was still your papa."

"Wily wasn't… he built me, he wasn't my…"

He faltered, then made a small, pained sound.

"It hurts so much but I can't even cry."

His voice was barely a whisper. Although Ingrid couldn't hear what he said, she still understood.

They sat there for a good long while, her tiny hand, soft and warm and wrinkled, pressed against his nape, hard and cool and smooth. She was so frail and he was so strong, but at the same time, he was so frail and she was so strong.

"He knew how you felt," Ingrid said finally.

"Yeah."

Several more minutes passed, and eventually Bass shifted and looked up at Ingrid.

"I have to go."

This wasn't entirely true, he had nowhere to be and nothing to do. He just needed to get out of that depressing room.

"If you need me, you know where to find me," she said. "I'll pray for you, sweetie."

There were a lot of things he wanted to respond with, the main one being 'don't waste your breath'. Like Wily, he wasn't the least bit religious— and more importantly he lacked a soul, or life spark, or whatever it was… which meant that he fell outside of any theological jurisdiction. But if it made her feel better, what was the harm? Instead, he said, "I've been called many different things, but no one's ever accused me of being 'sweet'."

With that, he stood and gave her a nod.

"Godspeed, Bass."

"Auf wiedersehen, Mrs. Wily."

"Call me Oma."

"Never."

She chuckled, sounding so much like her son used to, as his appearance blurred and Bass disappeared in a flickering shower of light.

* * *

A/N: We first met Oma Wily in 'Something Like Family' chapter 10 'Oma (Part 1)', if you're curious.

\- This story has been in my head since the mid '90's. I never thought I could complete it and now it's my longest finished fic (by a lot!). It really means so much to me to have gotten this far. Thank you so much for reading and I'd love to know what you think.

\- I'm going to take two weeks, and then start posting the sequel 'Downshift'. See you in December!


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